


Voyages and Travels

by Manuelita_la_Tortuga



Series: In the Wasteland [2]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Cait/Curie (Secondary relationship), Canon-Typical Violence, Deviates From Canon, F/F, Fluff, Spoilers, asexual sole survivor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-01-16 13:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 48
Words: 72,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12343377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manuelita_la_Tortuga/pseuds/Manuelita_la_Tortuga
Summary: Nora, Piper and their friends continue exploring the Commonwealth and doing their best to prevent a war between the Institute, the Railroad and the Brotherhood of Steel.





	1. Aftermath

Nora yawned and stretched her free arm, spat out the hair she had accidentally inhaled and gently kissed the top of Piper's head where it rested tucked up against her chin.

They had gone back to Railroad Headquarters after leaving Bunker Hill to report to Dez. It had been a long debriefing session and they hadn't gotten back home until nearly morning. They had stayed up long enough to see Nat off to school before collapsing, exhausted, into bed.

Nora ran her hand through Piper's hair, and wondered sleepily whether it would be possible to install a skylight in the roof. Home Plate was cozy, but she missed having windows and being able to gauge the time. Piper sighed and shifted against her.

"Hey."

Piper groaned.

"Do we have to get up?"

Nora grinned and gently scratched her scalp, making her hum contentedly.

"Nope. We can stay in bed all day, if you like."

"Piper?"

Nora laughed as Piper groaned again and rolled onto her back.

"Or not." She raised her voice. "Up here, Nat."

Nat clattered up the stairs and stopped short in front of the bed, hands on her hips.

"How come you're still in bed? Are you sick?"

Piper yawned.

"No, kiddo. We were awake all night. What did you want?"

Nat clambered over the foot of the bed and crawled in between them, unceremoniously shoving Nora aside so she could cuddle up next to her sister making puppy dog eyes at her. Nora grinned at Piper over Nat's head and shifted back to make room for her.

"Can I go spend the night at Nina's tonight?"

Piper rolled her eyes, but smiled at the same time and kissed her forehead.

"Yes, you can go spend the night at Nina's."

"Thanks, sis!" She immediately pushed her way back off the bed and dashed down the stairs, ignoring Piper's call of, "Ow! Elbows, Natalie!"

Piper rubbed her stomach and grumbled under her breath. Nora grinned at her.

"One of these days she's going to think she's too cool and grown up to cuddle with her big sis, and you'll miss this."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one with a bruised stomach." 

Nora waggled her eyebrows at Piper. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

Piper giggled and pulled Nora in for a kiss.

"Oy, Nora!"

They both sighed and rolled onto their backs.

"Upstairs, Cait."

Cait entered the room and snickered when she saw them.

"I swear to god, Cait, if you climb into bed with us, I will wait till you're asleep one night and shave you bald."

Cait laughed.

"Didn't know you were so kinky, darlin'." 

"What do you want, Cait?"

"Oh, right. Curie's plannin' dinner and wants to know if you'll be eatin' in."

"Yes, we will, but Nat's out for the night. Now go away." 

Cait leered at them cheerfully all the way out of the room.

Nora yawned and stretched. 

"I suppose I should go report to Shaun about last night's massacre." She sighed. "This will not be fun."

Piper took her hand and laced their fingers together.

"Wish I could come with you."

"Me too." They lay quietly for a few minutes. "Hey, let's do something fun tomorrow."

Piper sat up.

"Oh, no! Nope."

Nora blinked in surprise and sat up as well. Piper turned to her and shook a finger under her nose.

"The last time you wanted to do something relaxing, you ended up almost dying of mole rat plague."

Nora laughed. 

"Come on, what are the chances of that happening again? I just wanna go check out the USS Constitution. It's not too far from Bunker Hill. You can see it on the vertibird ride to the Prydwen. I really doubt there are any mole rats on it. Please?"

Piper laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine! OK, we'll go."

\+ + +

Nora blinked the blue flashes out of her eyes and looked around. On arrival at the Institute that day, she had been told that Shaun, oddly enough, had chosen to go outdoors. After inputting the coordinates she was given into her pip boy, she now found herself on the roof of one of the ruined buildings of the Cambridge Institute of Technology. She could see Shaun at the far end of the building and started towards him.

He glanced at her when he heard her footsteps and turned back towards the view of Boston the rooftop afforded. 

"You know, in all my years, I've never set food outside the Institute. Not once, since the day they brought me here. I've never had a reason. But now..." he shook his head sadly, "this just confirms the truth I've always known. The Commonwealth is dead. There's no future here."

"You're wrong, Shaun. This place isn't dead, and people are still building their futures, just like they did before the bombs fell."

"Perhaps. But at costs too great to be worth it."

She frowned.

"What gives you the right to decide that?"

He ignored her and continued.

"Standing here, I'm reminded of how fortunate I am that I was spared a life in this wasteland." She opened her mouth to respond angrily, but he held up a hand. "I know that to you, I was kidnapped from the Vault. In truth, the Institute rescued me. Both of us, really. I'll admit, when I had you released from Vault 111, I had no expectations that you'd survive out here, in all this. To not only do so, but manage to find me... to infiltrate the Institute itself... Extraordinary." 

Nora felt as though she'd been punched.

"You were the one who released me?"

"Yes, it was my decision. Certainly, it was no longer necessary to keep you suspended. I... well, I suppose I wanted to see what would happen."

Nora fell back a step, a hand to her mouth. She took a deep breath before responding.

"That's all this is to you... all I am to you... an experiment!"

He looked at her in surprise.

"No, that's not all. But still, I'm glad it turned out the way it did. Soon I hope you'll understand that everything I've done has been for the future." He frowned suddenly. " A future which, I hope, is not in jeopardy after recent events." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Would you care to explain what happened?"

She allowed the anger she felt over his revelation to tinge her response, letting it add more weight to the half truth she was feeding him.

"I don't know, Shaun. We were totally ambushed. They were waiting for us. I mean, I might have expected some resistance from the Railroad, but what the hell was the Brotherhood even doing there?"

He gave her a long hard look.

"You can imagine that I find it very hard to believe, given that all the intelligence leading up to this indicated we'd take them by surprise."

"Well, the intelligence was obviously wrong, because we got our asses handed to us, and it was all I could do to get out of there alive. Given how you've treated me before, I'm inclined to ask if this is another of your experiments."

He took a step back, on the defensive now.

"No, of course not. Those synths were valuable assets, as are you." He sighed. "And Bunker Hill was to cement your place as such. It will now only raise suspicions." He pinched his lower lip, thinking hard for a few moments. "I will refrain from sharing the outcome with the Directorate for the moment. Things are already in motion that this would only derail. Speaking of which, it's time for you to become more involved in the future of the Institute. I'd like you to join me at the next Directorate meeting in two weeks' time." He looked back over the rooftop and sighed. "I've seen enough." He took a small device out of his pocket, pressed a button and vanished in a flash of blue.


	2. The USS Constitution

Cait and Curie hurried into Bunker Hill, heading directly for the marketplace, where Curie was hoping to pick up some specialized components for a new experiment. Nora and Piper followed more slowly. Piper had been watching Nora out of the corner of her eye for most of the walk over to the settlement, and now she put a hand on Nora's wrist to stop her.

"Something's bothering you. D'you want to talk about it?"

Nora slipped her hand into Piper's and continued into the settlement, looking at the ground ahead of her.

"It's just... Shaun told me yesterday that he was the one who ordered my release from the Vault." She laughed suddenly, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I hadn't thought much before about the fact that I got out on the exact anniversary of the bombing, but knowing it was his decision, it makes more sense. I guess he thought it would be poetic or something." Piper squeezed her hand gently. "He did it as some sort of experiment, to see if I'd survive and how a pre-war person would react to the wasteland." She sighed. "I guess I can't blame him for being dispassionate. He was too young when he was taken to remember me at all, and detachment is part of his training as a scientist, but it still hurts."

Piper tugged on her hand to stop her, and when she turned, pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Blue. That's gotta be rough."

Nora pulled away after a few moments, kissing Piper's cheek as she did, and taking her hand again. She stopped and looked around the settlement until she caught sight of Kessler talking with Joe Savoldi in front of his bar, and started towards them. When Kessler saw them approaching, she said something they couldn't hear to Joe, turned away from him and moved to meet them, holding a hand out to Nora.

"Thanks again for the warning." 

Nora took the proffered hand and nodded.

"I only did want anyone else would have done."

Kessler gave her an odd look.

"No, I don't think so. I've worked with..." she looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear them and dropped her voice to a whisper, "the Railroad for years. I know Desdemona, and I know you didn't warn me on her orders. All she cares about are the synths, humans be damned. So, thank you." She hesitated before continuing. "Look, when you helped me out with those raiders, I know I said we didn't need help from the Minutemen, but if the rest of them are anything like you, maybe we do, so... yeah, we'll join." 

By this time, Nora was blushing furiously, while Piper tried to suppress a smile at her embarrassment. Nora nodded at Kessler and cleared her throat. 

"I'll get you added to the patrol routes, and I'll get you a ham radio so you can call for help when you need it."

She pulled Piper away, still blushing, and glanced into the marketplace to see Curie deep in conversation with Deb, so she led Piper to the other side of the building where they could lean against the sun-warmed marble until their friends finished their transactions. Piper could hear Nora grumbling to herself and leaned closer till she could hear what she was saying.

"Don't know why she has to make such a big fuss about it. It was just the right thing to do."

Piper shook her head and rolled her eyes, and Nora glanced at her questioningly. Piper turned and leaned on one shoulder so she could face Nora.

"You really have no idea how remarkable you are, do you?"

She saw the color rise to Nora's cheeks again.

"I'm no different than anyone else."

Piper snorted.

"Brahmin shit." Nora looked at her in surprise. "Blue, most people around here only care about themselves and their immediate families. Maybe their neighbors. If it doesn't affect that small group of people, they don't care, they don't want to hear about it. But you? It's like you've adopted the entire Commonwealth as your immediate family. You've done more to help the people of the Commonwealth in the months I've known you than any hundred other people combined."

Nora looked away, embarrassed.

"It's just the right thing to do," she muttered under her breath.

Piper smiled fondly at her and took a step towards her, slipping one hand around her waist and cupping her face with the other.

"That's the core of who you are, and it's one of the things that made me fall in love with you." She rubbed her thumb across Nora's cheek. "You care." She kissed her tenderly. "So much." Another kiss. "About everyone."

Piper grinned against Nora as the other woman responded by kissing her in return, pulling her tightly against her.

"God, ye two can't keep yer hands off each other for a second, can ye? There are children around, fer Pete's sake!"

Piper chuckled, gave Nora one last little peck and pulled back, inordinately pleased to see that, for once, it was Nora who was flustered and blushing, and not her. Nora looked at Cait, who was smirking, and Curie, who was smiling sweetly at them, and if anything, turned even redder.

"Ready to go?"

The other three nodded, Nora took Piper's hand and led them out the side gate, ignoring Cait's smirk.

"If I'm remembering what I saw from the vertibird correctly, the ship should be in this direction," she said, leading the way.

They clambered along the shoreline and stopped short when they came upon the ship. It was, somehow, impossibly, wedged along the second story of an old bank building. Nora laughed delightedly at the sight and turned to see her companions' reactions.

Curie appeared as delighted as she was.

"You were right, it is the USS Constitution! Up in a building!"

Cait was frowning as if it had personally insulted her.

"How in the hell did a ship get all the way up there?"

Piper glanced at Cait, then back at the ship.

"It didn't… sail up there, did it?"

As they stood gawping up at the ship, they were approached by a Mister Handy robot. Nora put a hand on her holstered weapon, but when it didn't seem to want to attack them immediately, let it drop. It stopped directly in front of her.

"Scanning… scanning… accessing pre-war records. Record found. Driver's license S91328862. Lawyer. Ahoy there, citizen. You are hereby conscripted into the Congressional Army."

Nora blinked.

"You're doing what, now? Do you have the authority to do that?"

"These are desperate times, madam. Proclamation 22 allows all crewmembers to conscript citizens for the war effort. The captain requests your presence on the bridge. At the double quick, madam."

Nora looked bemusedly at her friends, back at the robot, then up at the ship, before turning to her friends again.

"I mean, I did want to explore the ship, and this'll get us up there, right?"

Curie nodded delightedly, Cait shrugged and Piper rolled her eyes.

"I swear, Blue. These things only happen to you."

Nora turned back to the robot. 

"How do we get in there?" 

"You will find a hatch in the hull near the bow of the ship, madam."

Nora walked into the ruined bank building with the other three in tow. Piper leaned towards her as they left the lookout robot behind.

"You understood that? Was that even English?"

"The hull is the bottom of the boat, the part that touches the water. Odd place to have a hatch, I admit. Maybe they added it after it landed here. And the bow is the front of the ship. The back is stern. Ships have their own vocabulary - hull, keel, bow and stern, fore and aft, port and starboard. Plus the names for all the parts of the ship."

She saw a staircase in the corner of the building and headed towards it.

"How did you learn all this? Did you go sailing a lot before the war?"

Nora shook her head.

"Nah, I only ever went sailing once or twice. I learned it all from books. There was this book series I loved as a kid, the Horatio Hornblower books. The main character was an officer in England's Royal Navy, around the same time this was built." She patted the hull of the ship next to them, walking down a tight corridor between the ship and the side of the building.

They reached the front of the ship, found the hatch the lookout had mentioned and clambered into the belly of the ship. Cait made a face.

"Euch! What is that smell?"

Nora wrinkled her nose.

"Two hundred year old bilge water, probably."

"It's a new frontier of foul, is what it is," Piper put in with a hand over her nose.

As they looked down the body of the ship, they could see that all the crewmembers appeared to be robots, Mister Handy's and Protectrons, along with a few machine gun turrets.

"So this bridge? Where would it be?"

Nora pointed up.

"Up on top. We've got to get back out into the open air." Nora turned to the others before they continued. "No scavenging for now, OK? They might take it as stealing and I don't want to get in a firefight with this many robots."

They nodded and she led the way to a set of stairs up to the next level. As they went along, they heard a voice on a PA system.

"This is the captain speaking. We're taking on an allied soldier. Clear the berth. Disable defenses. Make way. This soldier is a guest aboard our ship. Please afford her all appropriate courtesies."

On the third level, they were approached by a police protectron.

"Unidentified intruder. Intruder."

The captain's voice was heard again.

"Mister First Mate, this is the Captain. This soldier is no intruder."

"Requesting permission to use lethal force."

Nora's eyes widened, and she raised her arms placatingly.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there. This must be a misunderstanding. You invited us aboard."

"Let's be civilized about this. No need for blood," Piper put in.

"No records found."

The captain's voice chimed in again.

"Stand down. That's an order." And then, in an almost pleading tone, "and for god's sake, use the accent."

"Aye, Captain. Standing down. Permission to destroy intruder denied."

Nora took a deep breath and glanced at the other three.

"Why did we accept that invitation again?" Cait asked wryly.

"Because I was curious. But if you'd rather leave and head back to Bunker Hill, I don't mind."

Cait made a face.

"Nah. Ye're a strange one, but I'll stick with ye."

Nora smiled and pointed up the next set of stairs.

"Looks like we've reached the top."

She pushed open the hatch at the top of the stairs and they found themselves on the slanting deck of the ship, surrounded by more robots, including a sentry bot wearing a bicorn hat. This was obviously the captain, and they listened to him giving orders for a few moments before approaching.

"I'll have none of your lip, Mister Navigator. Have the crow's nest scan two points off the port bow. Jump to it."

"Aye, captain!" This from one of the Mister Handy's.

"Captain?"

The sentry bot turned to her.

"Our soldier has arrived. I am Captain Ironsides."

Nora put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"I'm sorry. Ironsides? As in Old Ironsides? As in the nickname for this ship?"

"Indeed. What better name for its captain. I trust the First Mate didn't give you too hard a time?"

"No, it's fine."

"Good. Now. By the emergency powers vested in me, I hereby conscript you into the Congressional Army. Welcome to the army, soldier."

Nora shook her head in confusion.

"First Mate? Congressional Army? What's going on?"

"This is the pride of our navy, the USS Constitution. As her commander, it is my privilege to enforce a certain measure of decorum amongst my crew."

"Your lookout told me to come up here. Why?"

"I confess, we need your assistance. You visit this fine vessel in trying times, becalmed these long years on her airy perch. Damn you Weatherby Savings and Loan! I spit at you!" He shook his missile launcher arm in the air.

Nora glanced back at the others, who looked as bemused as she felt.

"That’s… quite a predicament."

"What vexes me most is my inability to assist in the war effort. My gun decks have naught but mole rats and ne'er-do-wells as targets. But, enough pleasantries. The Constitution has systems that need repairs to carry out its mission."

Nora frowned.

"What war effort? What mission?"

"Against Communist China, of course. But if any Red Coats or Canadians sail nearby, I will give them a good thrashing, to be sure. To avenge the burning of our nation's capital would be a sweet victory, indeed. Consult with the Bosun and Mister Navigator. They will relay your instructions. Dismissed!"

He turned away, and she turned back to Piper, Curie and Cait.

"What do you think? Should we help them?"

They were interrupted by the captain's voice.

"Look lively, lads. Scavengers approach."

Nora crouched and crept to the rail. Looking over it, she saw about a dozen armed people approaching the ship, and flinched when a shot hit the deck near her.

"Hey, down there, hold your fire. There are people up here."

The only response was more shots fired at the ship.


	3. Scavenging

"Get down!" Nora called back over her shoulder.

Piper, Cait and Curie obeyed and crawled towards her by the rail, as all the robots on the deck also crowded the rails and started returning fire. Peeking over the top, Piper could see the lookout robots on the ground also fighting the scavengers.

"Soldier," called out Captain Ironsides, "man the cannons. Kill them only as a last resort. A few warning shots usually suffice to scare that rabble off."

Nora looked to see where the sentry bot was pointing, and saw a switch a bit farther along the rail. She made her way over to it, looked over the rail again and turned to the others.

"Cover your ears!"

She waited until they did, and flipped the switch. All the cannons on that side of the ship, both on- and below-decks fired simultaneously. The noise was tremendous, and Piper was glad Nora had warned them ahead of time. She peeked over the railing again, and continued exchanging shots with the scavengers below, until the last few gave up and started running back down the road away from them, with the lookout robots in hot pursuit.

"They've struck their colors," the captain said in satisfaction. "Well done, men."

Nora stood and hurried over to the others.

"Everyone OK?" They nodded and she sighed in relief. "What the hell was that?" She looked down at the dead scavengers, and then around at the robots, who had resumed their duties, whatever they might be. "So, not quite as fun anymore. Do we want to help them?"

Piper shrugged.

"Let's see what they want first. We can always say no and leave."

Cait and Curie both signaled their agreement, so Nora turned to look for the Mister Handy the Captain had been talking to when they first came on deck, the Navigator.

"Ahoy, soldier. Scavenger threat eliminated. Damage assessment will commence after this unit has completed scheduled duties."

"Why did the scavengers attack?" Piper asked.

"Scavengers have attacked ship 17 times; destroyed 13 per cent of ship's systems; stolen 5 per cent of ship's store. Logic error. Captain's orders authorize scavenger termination only if necessary to preserve the ship."

"You robots do a good job of defending your ship."

"Proclamation 1:" He played a recording and they heard the Captain's voice.

"Defend the Constitution by any means necessary."

"Guidance system offline. Multiple errors diagnosed. First error: Guidance Chip stolen. This unit requires its return."

"Who stole your guidance chip?"

"Guidance chip is one entry on the list of stolen items. Reclaim chip at scavenger's forward recon station. Captain has approved a bounty for its return." He played another recording of the captain's voice.

"Lethal force is prohibited unless absolutely necessary."

"Aft dinghy is unlocked and available for your use, madam."

The Navigator gave them detailed directions to the scavenger camp before returning to his duties. Nora scratched her chin thoughtfully.

"Let's go talk to the Bosun, see what he needs. I'd rather only do one trip if we have to go get multiple items."

They found the Bosun, another Mister Handy, on the top level, next to the captain's quarters.

"Your very presence does this humble unit a great honor. My programming would find it amiss if I did not also interject. Long live the captain!"

Nora blinked, and looked back at her friends.

"Oookay."

"On to the mission! Our last marine expedition valiantly returned with much needed supplies, including replacement power cables. Alas, with my severe lack of appendages, I find myself unequal to the task of repairing the cables myself."

"We'll get right on it."

"My anxiety emulators are lightening by the microsecond. Once you have resolved this matter, I beseech you to return to me to accept my undying gratitude."

They made their way to the storage container he had indicated, and pulled out the replacement cables. When they reached the first junction box, Curie cleared her throat tentatively.

"If I may, this is a job I think I am well suited for. Perhaps Cait and I could remain here and make these replacements, while you and Piper go to the scavenger camp?" She ducked her head. "I do not enjoy fighting."

Cait put an arm protectively around Curie's shoulders and glared belligerently at Nora and Piper.

"I think that's a great idea. We'll stay here. Off ye go, then."

Nora exchanged an amused glance with Piper, smiled at them both and nodded.

"Back soon."

As they got close to the scavenger camp, Nora and Piper drew their weapons. Nora flattened herself against the wall and peeked around the corner, then pulled back.

"A man and a woman outside, armed, but holstered. More inside, can't tell how many. Weapons up, but don't shoot unless they attack us, yes?"

Piper nodded, and they stepped around the corner. The woman immediately raised her hands.

"Don't shoot!"

Nora lowered her weapon, but didn't reholster it. 

"Those assholes didn't attack the ship on our orders. And they weren't trying to frag _you_ anyhow. They just wanted to kill the frickin' robots."

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"So they were scavengers… but not with you?"

The woman grimaced.

"Well, they were kinda with us. We're not really used to working together. It's not like anyone is in charge. But we do have an agreement. Everyone works together, gets an equal share. When you waltzed aboard the ship, those assholes just kinda lost it. They broke our agreement. And they paid for it." She gave Nora and Piper a puzzled look. "How did you get aboard anyway? We thought you were gonna get cratered for sure."

"Uh…" Nora scratched the back of her head. "The lookout recognized me from old records, knew I was an American citizen, so he drafted me."

The woman looked confused.

"Whatever." Her eyes brightened. "So, you got to see the inside, huh? All that salvage. The real mother load. Just waiting to be stripped and sold."

Nora nodded and shrugged.

"Yeah, it's probably worth a fortune."

"We score this one, and no more scrounging in the gutters. Ever. So," she leaned closer, "what'd the tin can have to say?"

"They said your people stole something from them. They want it back."

She crossed her arms.

"Well, that's too bad. It's our salvage now." She huffed. "You know what he needs it for? His rockets. The huge god damn rockets on the side of his boat. He's nuts!"

"Rockets?" Nora glanced back at Piper. "Why's he building rockets?"

Piper shrugged. The scavenger lifted her hands in a gesture of confusion.

"Who knows? Maybe a bomb. Maybe to launch himself into space. Who cares? It's valuable as hell, that's what matters." She hesitated for a moment. "Look, screw the robot. Come work with us. There's dozens more of us nearby. It's only a matter of time before we come out on top."

The man behind her spoke up for the first time

"I'm not splitting my share with her, Mandy!"

The woman turned to him angrily.

"You holdin' out on us, Davies? You got some magical way in there? This lady's got a free ticket aboard. So shut up!" He glowered at her, but took a pace back and she turned back to Nora and Piper with a satisfied look. "Help us destroy that frickin' tin can once and for all."

Nora frowned.

"What would we get out of it?"

Mandy sighed.

"What do you think the tin can's gonna pay you? Maybe some frickin' doubloons?" She gave a bark of laughter. "Stick with us and you'll be rolling in caps. So, you in or out?"

Nora hesitated, then gestured towards Piper.

"Give me a second to talk it over with my friend, OK?"

"Yeah, fine, but don't take too long, or we'll crack the Constitution open ourselves. And then you'll get nothing."

Nora took Piper by the arm and led her a few steps away. 

"What do you think?"

Piper gave her a worried look.

"I guess these folks could probably use the caps, right?" She sighed. "I don't know, Blue. I'm getting a bad feeling about them, but it doesn't feel right to put play-acting robots ahead of people."

Nora sighed.

"That's kinda how I feel too. OK, we'll go along with the scavengers for now, but keep your eyes and ears open."

Piper nodded and they turned back to the scavengers.

"OK, we're in."

Mandy smiled.

"That's the right call!"

Davies pulled her back and whispered angrily at her, loudly enough that Nora and Piper could hear him.

"I've been working this claim for months. Like hell am I letting this greenhorn take any of my caps."

"We got no choice! We need her, Davies." She pulled her arm free and turned back to Piper and Nora. "We need to sabotage those rockets. If they blow up that'll put those frickin' cannons offline. So, if you find any rocket parts for the tin can, give them to me first. Then Davies will make some special improvements."

Nora nodded.

"Got it. You'd better not double cross us."

"Trust is a two way street. The guidance chip is in one of the filing cabinets inside." She gestured towards one end of the building behind her. "You'd better not renege on our deal."

Nora entered the building, quickly located the guidance chip, and rejoined Piper outside. She nodded curtly to Mandy and Davies as she passed them, and they returned to the ship. The Navigator showed them where the chip needed to go and they plugged it back in.

"Dispensing bounty. Diagnostics report one error remaining. Guidance radar's transmitter is non-functional and requires replacement. Acquire Poseidon Radar Transmitter at specified co-ordinates. Further bounty will be dispensed upon completion, madam."

Nora pocketed the handful of caps the robot had given them and she and Piper went back below decks to check on Curie's progress.

"I have completed the task, and have also repaired the power relay coil, which was malfunctioning. The Bosun has no further tasks for us."

Nora smiled at her.

"Well done, Curie. So the only thing left to do is find a new radar transmitter at one of the Poseidon power stations." She pulled up the map on her pip boy. "The nearest one is a little north of here, across the river into Medford."

They left the ship, and once they were out of earshot of any of the robots, Nora and Piper explained to Cait and Curie what had happened with the scavengers. Cait was unfazed by the change in allegiance. She didn't seem to mind who they were working for, so long as they'd be getting paid at the end of the day. She didn't say any of this aloud, though, because Curie was, unsurprisingly given her background, quite disturbed at the thought of turning against the robots.

They had to fight their way past a handful of mirelurks to get to the radar transmitter. When they got inside they found that the catwalk that led to the transmitter was broken. Cait sighed, sat down and started to pull off her boots, but Nora put a hand on her arm.

"Hold on. Look, the pumps are pretty close together. I bet I can climb over them and get in there without getting wet."

She followed through on the idea immediately, clambering across nimbly and dropping down in front of the doorway at the end of the catwalk. 

"Shit!"

They saw her back pedal a few steps, pulling out her shock baton, and then surge forward hitting at something, and disappearing from view. She reappeared after a few seconds and waved to them. 

"Just some radroaches. I'll go get the transmitter now."

She vanished again and returned a few minutes later carrying the transmitter assembly. She walked out along the catwalk to the broken section.

"Cait, catch."

She tossed the device underhand to Cait, who caught it easily, then clambered back across the pumps to re-join them. Their walk back to the ship was quiet, each of them lost in their own thoughts, so they were able to hear the raised voices coming from the scavenger camp from half a block away. They stopped to listen. Davies seemed to be doing most of the talking, with occasional comments from Mandy and murmurs from a crowd.

"Mandy's promised this stranger a full share, for what, half a day's work? While we've been working this claim for how long?"

Angry murmurs from the crowd.

"So I say, if she does get us on the ship, we give her what she actually deserves. Nothing!"

Some ugly laughter from the crowd, and now Mandy chimed in.

"Look, we stiff her like that, it's gonna get out, and then where will we be? No one will want to trade with us, so what good will all that salvage do us? Huh?"

"So, maybe we'll give her and her little friends a little extra," Davies replied in a cold voice. "Like a dirt nap. Then they won't be able to spread the story."

They heard Mandy sigh.

"Yeah, fine. OK. Put it to a vote. All in favor of Davies' idea?"

There was a loud chorus of ayes.

"Opposed?"

Silence.


	4. Last Voyage of the USS Constitution

The four women exchanged glances, and, without further comment, started backtracking so they could detour around the camp to the ship. They took the dinghy-elevator up to the deck, crossed to the radar dish, and Nora plugged in the guidance chip. They were immediately approached by the Navigator.

"Ahoy, soldier. Guidance system fully functioning. Bounty dispensed." He crossed to a small chest and pulled out a packet of caps. "It is required you commence dialog with the Captain, madam."

The captain turned when he heard them approaching.

"You've been of service to our noble vessel. I am pleased you recovered the guidance chip without bloodshed. Though the scavengers have caused us grievous injury our goals must be nobler than base revenge."

"The scavengers tried to convince us to blow up your rocket."

"They seek to impugn the honor of the military? Truly, there is no depth they will not sink to. I find I must reward your considerable efforts with a final labor. We stand but a hair's breadth away from embarking on our sacred mission."

"And what's this final labor?"

"The ship requires Turbopump Bearings from a nearby factory. It will undoubtedly be a dangerous mission. But I have faith you will succeed."

Nora sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It's not that I mind helping but, you couldn't have mentioned this earlier? So we could get them while we were off looking for the radar transmitter?"

Ironsides seemed unfazed.

"We are defined by the caliber of the challenges we choose to undertake. So attack adversity with gusto." 

Nora shook her head.

"Sorry, Captain, it'll have to wait until tomorrow. We're not about to go attack adversity in the dark."

"Indeed, unlike my marines, you are not equipped with night-vision devices. Your caution is warranted. Until tomorrow."

\+ + +

They got back to Home Plate a little after nightfall. Once inside the house, Cait stopped with her hands on her hips. Nora glanced back and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Are we really still gonna carry through with this mission? That robot's insane!"

Nora shrugged.

"I'm not arguing that he isn't, but a, he and the other robots haven't actually tried to or threatened to kill us, and b, we've gotten paid for every task they've asked us to do." She put her pack down on the table and pulled out the various packets of caps the Navigator and the Bosun had given them for their work. She handed two entire packets to Cait.

"You and Curie did all the Bosun's jobs solo, so that's yours to share." She quickly split the other packets in half. "And you both helped with the Navigator's jobs, so we get an equal share of what he paid us." 

Cait looked inside and blinked in surprise.

"That's… actually not bad for a day's work."

"And, even with the mirelurks and the scavengers, I actually had fun today." Nora sat on the bench, leaning her elbows on the table behind her. "Look, Cait, I'd never want to force you to do something you don't want to do. You're good company and good friends, and I enjoy having you and Curie around. But if you'd rather stay behind tomorrow, I understand."

Cait blushed and ducked her head at Nora's comments.

"Nah, I'll come." She glanced at Curie who smiled and nodded. "We'll come." She cleared her throat. "I make more caps travelin' with you on your harebrained adventures than I ever did at the Combat Zone. Still can't quite figure out where you get it all."

Nora laughed. 

"A lot of it's from all that 'junk' you complain about helping me carry, all those weapons and armor we take off dead raiders and gunners. What, did you think I hoarded them?"

Cait shrugged.

"Figgered they went to your settlements."

Nora shook her head.

"By now, most of them are well enough protected that they can supply their own weapons and armor from any fools that try attacking them. I sell most of what we collect to Arturo and Myrna, and each of us gets an equal share."

Piper perched on the table next to Nora, with her feet on the bench.

"So where are these turbopump bearings?"

Nora opened up the map on her pip boy and found the marker the captain had added.

"The Corvega plant in Lexington. Hmm. I cleared that place out a few months ago for Preston, for the first settlement that joined the new Minutemen. I wonder if anyone new's moved in yet."

\+ + +

A new group of raiders had, in fact, moved into the assembly plant. They weren't as numerous as the previous group Nora had cleared out, and the four of them made quick work of them, found the turbopump bearings and started back towards the ship, being careful to avoid the scavengers' camp.

The captain was delighted to see them back, and handed Nora the key to his cabin below decks, where the turbopump assembly was located. Between them, Nora and Curie quickly got the new bearings installed in the assembly and they headed back up on deck to report to the captain.

"Luck willing, at long last we'll set sail. And our hero of the hour is to thank. You've earned a double share, madam. Well done."

Nora blinked and looked back at the others.

"Set sail?"

"On the eve of our voyage, the need for secrecy is long past. Our twin NX-42 rockets will alight and unmoor us from this dreaded Savings and Loan. The Constitution will launch into the heavens, and after, gently land on the ocean. Then we take our rightful place as defenders of the Atlantic."

Nora exchanged bemused glances with her friends.

"You're going to what?"

"A thing of brilliance, is it not? Mister Navigator, put her through her paces. We need to…"

He was interrupted by gun fire from below, as the scavengers, led by Mandy and Davies, made an attack on the ship. 

"Those motherless curs! Prepare to broadside. Defend the Constitution until our last breath!"

Nora quickly made her way to the cannon control and flipped the switch, while Piper, Cait and Curie made their way to the rails with the robots. Nora joined the others and they quickly dealt with the remaining scavengers.

"Gods be good, the scavenger assault has been broken. Not one of those scallywags stepped foot on our vessel. All hands, prepare ship for launch!"

Nora's eyes widened.

"Uh… you're still going through with this?"

"Given time the scavengers will regroup. It may be now or never. We need power from the auxiliary generator to commence our voyage. I fear I must call upon you one last time."

"Where's the generator?"

"On the top deck of the Royal Arms Apartments." The captain pointed to the building across from them. "Scavengers may yet remain, so have a care."

Nora nodded, looking relieved.

"Yes, good. We'll… watch the launch from there."

"Before you leave. Here is your amply deserved reward. God speed to you, madam."

He opened a nearby chest to reveal a small cannon that had been modified to be handheld. Nora hefted it out of the chest with a grunt, grinned, and handed it off to Cait, who held it with a look of dazed delight.

They made their way aft, took the dinghy down to ground level, and made their way across to the apartment building. Nora led the way in and started up the stairs. As she reached the third story, she heard a shot and ducked. When she raised her head again to try to find her attacker, he came at her bodily, knocking her down. She grappled with him, until she was able to reach her shock baton, which made him lose his grip on her. She wriggled out of the way and got to her knees, delivering another blow with the baton, before retrieving the weapon she had dropped when she fell and shooting him.

In the silence, she heard a small whimper of pain and turned to find Curie sitting on the floor of the stairwell, gripping her arm, with Piper kneeling over her. Curie's eyes were wide with fright and shock, her breathing shallow.

"Shh, it's OK, Curie. Let me see. C'mon." Piper's voice was gentle and coaxing.

Nora dropped to her knees next to them, pulled off her pack and dug around for her medical kit, pulling out a stimpak and holding it out to Piper.

"Cait!" she called out over her shoulder.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'! This thing's heavy."

"Cait, leave it for now. Curie's hurt."

They heard a loud thud, and Cait came barreling up the stairs.

"What happened?"

"She got hit by a stray bullet. She's in shock and frightened and won't let us treat her."

Cait looked at Nora in panic.

"Well, what d'ye want me to do? I'm no medic!"

"This is the first time she's been seriously injured since she got her new body and she's overwhelmed. Talk to her. Soothe her."

Nora moved aside so Cait could sit next to Curie and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Ye'll be alright, love. Can ye put your hand down so we can fix ye?" She patted Curie gently but awkwardly. After a few moments Curie lowered her hand, allowing Piper to cut the sleeve off her shirt and examine the wound. "That's it, darlin'. It'll be much better soon."

"There's an exit wound. Good." Piper took the stimpak Nora was still holding out to her and injected it as close to the entry wound as she could. "Give me another, would you?" She injected the second near the exit wound. 

Curie started to relax, leaning into Cait, her breathing slowing as the stimpaks took effect. Nora reached into her pack again and pulled out a can of purified water and a clean rag, which she used to clean the blood off Curie's hand and arm, so Piper could bandage the wound. She handed Cait the remainder of the can and indicated she should encourage to Curie to drink it.

"I'll go turn on the power. The captain's probably wondering what happened to us."

Nora stood reluctantly and hesitated. Curie stirred and looked up.

"I wish to come." 

Cait looked at her.

"Ye sure?"

"Yes. There is still pain, but it is manageable now, thanks to you, my friends." She squeezed Cait's hand with her good hand as she said this, and Cait leaned in to kiss the side of her head gently. "I wish to see the ship fly."

Cait nodded, stood and helped her to her feet, and they walked up to the attic together. Nora waved across at the captain to let him know they'd arrived, and they heard his voice through a radio next to the power switch.

"Mister Navigator, slowly throttle those engines. Keep idling those engines. Ahoy, soldier, we're ready for our auxiliary power." Nora flipped the switch. "Power nominal. Excellent. Commencing final countdown. Three. Two. One. Mister Navigator, light the engines."

They watched, fingers in their ears as the rockets lit up with a roar, lifting the ship from the building it rested in and out across the Charles. The captain's voice could still be heard through the radio.

"Dreaded Savings and Loan, we shall be moored no longer. We are away!"

The ship dropped sharply as it cleared the building, and Piper thought it was going to drop into the river, but instead, it lifted and continued across it into downtown Boston. 

"Two points to starboard. Yes. Yes!"

As they continued watching, the ship crashed into a skyscraper and came to a rest once again.

"We did it! Victory at last! Helm reports we are a quarter fathom closer to the Atlantic. By my calculations, in a mere century we will take to the ocean. Well done."

Nora started laughing. Piper, Cait and Curie looked at her in confusion. She managed to control her laughter long enough to answer their unspoken question.

"That's the Weatherby Investment Trust building." She dissolved into giggles again, and this time they all joined her.


	5. Tying Up Loose Ends

It took them a while to loot the scavengers' bodies and camp. Cait insisted that Curie sit and continue recovering from her injury, and she returned so often to check on the young synth, that she didn't end up helping very much. Since Bunker Hill was just around the corner, they stopped off there to sell off a good bit of what they'd salvaged, and store what they didn't sell, so they wouldn't have to lug it all across Boston.

"The building where they crashed is right next to Faneuil Hall," Nora said as they started out again.

Piper made a face.

"Ugh, super mutants."

"Let's just check things out first. If we can't get to the ship without alerting the mutants, we'll head home."

Curie nodded at this, looking relieved.

Piper's legs were burning by the time they arrive at the Weatherby Investment Trust building. Judging by her legs, she'd guess they walked at least half the distance in a crouch, avoiding raiders and super mutants. But, they did manage to make it to the building without any further fighting. They crept into the lobby through a bus lodged in the entryway, found a working elevator and headed up. She glanced at Nora who was looking up at the ceiling and bracing herself against the walls.

"Problem?"

Nora jumped and dropped her arms self-consciously.

"I just… it's been two hundred years, several bombs, and one ship crash since the last time this elevator was inspected. It makes me nervous."

Cait grimaced.

"Wish ye hadn't said that. Now I wish we'd taken the stairs."

They had to take a second elevator to the top, which opened onto open air, with a collapsed piece of floor leading down to the deck of the Constitution. The four women walked gingerly across the makeshift ramp to the ship. Curie clung to Cait's arm eyes wide. 

"I am feeling a strange sensation. My stomach appears to be jumping inside me, and my vision is misbehaving, and everything appears to move. What is this?"

Cait patted her hand gently.

"I think ye're dizzy, darlin'." 

"Looks like you might be afraid of heights. Cait, maybe get her to sit on one of those crates in the middle of the deck," Nora suggested.

Cait nodded.

"And I know that the first thing people do when you suggest this is to look down, but try not to look down, Curie. Look out, up or keep your eyes closed." Piper said.

Curie sat, closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. 

"Thank you, my friends. I am feeling better. But I think I will wait for you here."

Cait sat next to her, and Nora and Piper headed for the stern of the ship, looking around curiously, to where Captain Ironsides was surveying the ship's new perch. From this angle, the ship didn't appear to have taken much damage in its short trip.

"Ah. Our hero returns. What a glorious success. True, the mission is not quite complete, but one cannot deny our progress."

"You consider this a success?" Piper asked with a glance at their surroundings.

"Wholeheartedly, madam. I wager at this rate, we should land in the ocean in one, perhaps two more launches. My circuits tremble with excitement."

"But why didn't you just drop down into the Charles? You could have sailed from there into the Atlantic in minutes."

"Our goal is the ocean. We will not sully our hull with brackish water. And with the courage and support of my faithful crew, our eventual triumph is assured." 

Nora glanced at Piper and shrugged, as Ironsides continued.

"In recognition of your courageous role in all this, I hereby promote you to the rank of Honorary Lieutenant." He plucked a bicorn hat similar to the one he wore out of a chest and held it out to Nora. "And being that I… well…" if a robot could express embarrassment, Ironsides was doing so now, "cannot actually fit below decks, I hereby give you the Captain's quarters as well. Three cheers for our new Lieutenant!"

He led the assembled robots in a rousing cheer, while Nora and Piper watched in amusement. They made their way back to Cait and Curie, and Nora plopped the hat down on the synth's head, making her giggle. Cait looked at her approvingly.

"Suits ye."

Curie blushed and smiled delightedly, then shook her head and wagged a finger in Cait's face.

"You are wicked to tease me so, Cait. You make it very difficult to concentrate on research."

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"You're doing research right now? Here?"

"Well, obviously not. I am distracted. But should I not be able to?"

Piper smiled and shook her head.

"Most people wouldn't. They'd wait till they could concentrate on just that, in a lab, for example."

Curie thought this over carefully and turned back to Cait.

"Very well, I suppose you may continue distracting me until we return to Diamond City."

Nora and Piper laughed as Cait blushed, cleared her throat, stood and offered Curie her hand, smiling shyly at her and pointedly ignoring their teasing but not unkind laughter.

"We done here?"

Nora nodded, and Cait led Curie back to the elevator, with Nora and Piper following.

"What next?" Piper asked as they waited for the second elevator's doors to open.

"We picked up quite a few weapons from those scavengers, even after selling the crappy ones. I thought I'd make a trip to the Institute and drop off a batch of them for Z1."

"Can't you just take them with you when you go for that meeting in a few days?"

"There are more than I can take in one trip. It's already pretty late, so I'll spend the night and be back tomorrow."

Piper nodded and sighed.

"Be careful."

They parted with a kiss at the entrance to the building, Piper heading back to Diamond City with Cait and Curie, Nora to Bunker Hill to retrieve the weapons they had stored there earlier.

\+ + +

Nora smiled as she came off the elevator from the relay room into the atrium of the Institute.

"Hi, Allie!"

The Chief Engineer smiled when she saw her, but Nora thought it looked strained. She gave her a brief hug and looked at her with concern.

"Everything all right?"

Allie looked around almost nervously.

"Will you be here long this time? Maybe we could have dinner tonight? Your quarters?"

Nora tried to hide her surprise behind a pleasant smile, understanding that Allie wanted to talk, but not out in public.

"Yeah, I'll be here till tomorrow. I have a couple of reports to make. See you then."

After dropping off the packet of weapons in the usual hiding place, Nora stopped at the cafeteria and picked up enough food for both of them. She wasn't sure if Allie actually intended to have dinner with her, or just wanted to talk, but she herself was starving.

She laid out the food on the coffee table and went to take a quick shower. She was dressed, but still drying her hair when Allie showed up. Nora ushered her in, locked the door and showed her to a seat. She returned the towel to the bathroom, pulled up the desk chair across from Allie and smiled.

"I wasn't sure if you actually meant dinner, but I haven't eaten in hours, so help yourself."

Allie smiled back at her, seeming a bit more relaxed than she had earlier.

"Thanks. Dinner was the excuse, but yes, I'm hungry too."

She took one of the plates and sat back on the couch, stirring the food aimlessly, belying her words. Nora took a mouthful of her own food, and watched her while she chewed.

"What's got you so tense?"

Allie sighed and set the plate down on her lap.

"It's a lot of things that have been adding up." She paused, but Nora didn't push her, instead taking another bite of food, and letting her share her concerns in her own time. "It started with Dr Virgil's death." She glanced up at Nora. "You never met him, it happened before you arrived. He was in Clayton Holdren's department. There was some sort of lab accident. The odd thing was that Justin Ayo and his department were called in to clean up afterwards, instead of Clayton or myself." She frowned to herself and finally took a bite of her food, chewing slowly.

"And now the same thing's happened with Madison Li. Again, a lab accident, and again Justin is called in to clean up, instead of someone from her own department, or myself as head of facilities. And slowly, so slowly I didn't really notice until recently, Justin's been…" she stopped and frowned, as though looking for the right word, "taking over? His department is Synth Retention, and he's only the acting director, but he and his Coursers always seem to be looking over everyone's shoulders, synth or human." She shivered. "I really wish Alana Secord had been made acting director instead of Justin."

Nora put down her empty plate and leaned back in her chair, looking at Allie thoughtfully. Allie glanced up at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry to have dumped all this on you. There's just not really anyone else here I can talk to about it."

"Allie, if Shaun were to die, who would become the new head of the Institute?"

Allie shook her head.

"It would probably be Justin, and I don't even want to think about Justin with that kind of power. He's already becoming a danger to all of us with his fanaticism. I wish there were something we could do to neutralize or discredit him." She looked up in sudden alarm. "Why do you ask?"

Nora looked at her for a moment before answering.

"Shaun's dying. He has cancer and the treatments aren't working."

Allie went pale.

"There's more." Nora leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. "Madison Li and Brian Virgil didn't die in lab accidents." Allie frowned. "They defected. They're both still alive, out in the Commonwealth. Brian's the one who helped me infiltrate the Institute in the first place. And Madison left when she found out she had been lied to about Brian's death."

Allie shook her head.

"But why? Why weren't we told? And why did Brian leave?"

"Do you know what FEV is?"

Allie nodded.

"He and his predecessors had been conducting experiments with FEV. From what I've been able to find out, they were hoping to use the results to create the next generation of synths. This was back before… before Shaun was taken. The program was not successful, and eventually the new generation of synths was created using Shaun's DNA, but they were ordered to continue the experiments. They would kidnap people from the Commonwealth, infect them with FEV, and if they survived whatever other experiments were being done on them, release them back into the Commonwealth." Allie looked horrified and a little nauseous. "Brian infected himself with FEV in protest, hoping that this would finally force them to shut down the program. His plan worked. His lab's locked off and abandoned."

Allie finally stirred, her look of horror growing.

"Brian Virgil's a super mutant?"

Nora shook her head.

"Not anymore. He had been working on a cure for that particular strain of FEV, and his price for helping me was that I get the cure from his lab and bring it to him. And it worked."

Allie sighed and slumped back on the couch.

"You haven't really alleviated my concerns, Nora. If anything, I'm more worried now than I was when I first got here." Nora opened her mouth to respond, but she held up a hand. "But thanks for telling me. I'd rather have the truth." She chewed her lower lip for a few moments. "This is all I know." She gestured to the walls around them. "All I've ever known, until Madison and then you showed up. Madison was prickly and stand-offish, but we did talk sometimes. She was passionate about helping people, and I know it bothered her that she couldn't help people down here. Before she arrived, I never questioned that we were doing the right thing; that we had the moral right to survive over everyone else." She looked up, and Nora thought she saw an apology in her eyes. "Shaun has been here longer than I've been alive, and before you and Madison arrived, before Quentin was born, I never questioned that it was our right, and the right thing to do, to take him from you. But now…" she shook her head, "I want my family to be safe, but not at the expense of other families." She sighed. "You must hate us."

Nora shook her head.

"No, I don't hate you. But, I do want to find a way to stop the damage you do out there. A way that won't end with more death."


	6. Plugging A Leak

"I need to speak with you." 

Nora looked up from her breakfast tray at Justin Ayo.

"Will it wait until I've eaten?"

He glanced down at the tray as if only just noticing it, and nodded tersely.

"Meet me in my office when you're done."

He turned and walked away without another word.

"And good morning to you too," Nora muttered. She wondered, as she took her tray to an empty seat, if this had anything to do with her conversation with Allie the night before. The timing was suspicious, and she hoped she hadn't caused trouble for her friend.

By the time she finished her breakfast and made her way to the Synth Retention Bureau offices, she had almost worked herself into a panic, so Justin's words came as a surprise.

"We've got a problem here, and to be honest, Father's never taken it as seriously as he should. I'm hoping you will."

Nora blinked.

"Oh. Uh, what's the problem?"

"We often send synth scavenger teams to the surface. Occasionally, one of the synths will try to escape. The rate of escapes has been increasing lately, and I don't think it's just random chance."

Oh, boy. Was this going where she thought it was? She schooled her expression, and put on a concerned frown.

"They could be getting help."

"I'm sure of it. I did some digging, and discovered that the culprit is right here in the Institute. Someone in Robotics has been changing my work crew assignments, replacing synths I approved for surface duty with high flight risks. I'm convinced that someone is Alan Binet. He thinks that synths are people. He even lives with one." Justin grimaced in disgust. "It's disturbing."

Well, he was close. A bit too close. Did Liam realize his work was being tracked?

"Who else has access to the terminals in Robotics?"

"Well, there's Max Loken and Father, of course, but neither of them would do something like this. No, Binet is the only one with both motive and opportunity. Since I am only acting director of the SRB, I don't have the authority to do anything about it, even if I can find proof of Binet's involvement. But you… Father trusts you."

Nora looked at him in surprise.

"Shaun may trust me, but I didn't think you did."

Justin looked away.

"Well, to be perfectly honest, no I don't quite trust you. But we are losing too many units and I need help. Like I said, the roster assignments were definitely altered from the terminals in Robotics. I leave the rest to you."

She raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"I'll see what I can find out."

Nora paused outside the SRB. Should she go straight to Liam, or would that be too dangerous? She decided that, since Justin had mentioned Liam's father by name, it would be plausible for her to investigate the terminal in the Binet quarters, and use the opportunity to speak with Liam. She put thought into action and headed for the stairs.

When she arrived at the Binet quarters, she found Liam working at the terminal, and Eve, the synth Justin had mentioned lived with the Binets folding clothes nearby. Liam frowned when he saw her and opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off abruptly.

"Justin Ayo has asked me to investigate synth escapes. He suspects your father is involved. I'd like to ask you some questions." She glanced at Eve, then back at Liam. "In private, please."

Liam blinked and nodded, and she led the way to her own quarters, locking the door behind them.

"He thinks my father is the one helping synths escape?"

"All he knows is that the changes to the duty rosters are being made from a terminal in Robotics, but not who was logged in. And of all the people who work in Robotics, the one he suspects is your father."

Liam looked frightened, and suddenly very young.

"I didn't think about that. But I've been using my own log in, so why doesn't he know it's me?"

"Someone else must know. Someone's helping you, cleaning up after you."

"But who?"

"Your father?"

Liam shook his head.

"He's so involved in his work, I really doubt he's noticed anything."

"There must be a way we can figure out who it is."

Nora linked the fingers of her hands together, thumbs and forefingers extended, and rested her chin on her thumbs, her forefingers tapping together in front of her nose as she thought. She looked up at him after a moment.

"Are there any surface teams being planned right now?"

Liam nodded.

"Have you already made changes to the roster?"

"No, not yet. With the Railroad's plan in progress, I'd been holding off."

"OK, give me a little while to see if I can track down the terminal that's being used to cover your tracks, then you go in and make a change to the roster while I watch the terminal."

Liam nodded, still looking worried. Nora stood and unlocked the door. She went back to the SRB and spent some time looking through the terminals in all the offices. She finally found what she was looking for in terminal 2B; remote access from a maintenance terminal.

She returned to the Binet quarters, caught Liam's attention and gave him a brief nod, before heading down to the storage room that housed the terminal in question. She hid herself among the shelves, rearranging a couple of crates to give herself a good view of the terminal, and waited. About half an hour later, she heard the door slide open, and footsteps approaching. She watched the figure access the terminal. She stood and walked quietly around the shelves.

"Eve."

The synth gasped and fumbled in her jumpsuit, pulling out a laser pistol.

"Don't come any closer!" The pistol trembled in her grip. "I'm sorry that you had to find me here."

Nora raised her arms, showing she was unarmed.

"Hold on. Let's just talk about this."

Eve shook her head.

"I wish we could, but you know too much already. If you find out what's on this terminal, everyone will know it was him."

"Eve, I already know what's on the terminal. I've been working with Liam since I got here." Eve gave a strangled sob when she said Liam's name and shook her head.

"No. I'm sorry. You seem like a good person, but I can't let you tell Justin that Liam is helping the synths."

"I have no intention of telling Justin. I'd be damning myself too. I'm with the Railroad."

"But I heard you tell Liam that you were investigating the missing synths for Justin."

"Yes, he sent me to investigate, but I'm trying to protect Liam, just like you are."

Eve slowly lowered the pistol.

"I... I believe you. I know Liam isn't really my son, but I've come to love him as if he were. He's so smart and kind-hearted. All he wants is for synths to have a better life, to be free."

"He's succeeding. I've met a few of the synths he helped escape." She smiled. "One of them lives in my house, actually."

Eve swiped a tear off her cheek and smiled weakly.

"I'm sorry I threatened you. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going back to talk with Liam again, and we'll figure out what to do from there. You go ahead and finish with that," she gestured towards the terminal.

The synth nodded, pocketed the pistol and turned back to the terminal. Nora left her to it and headed back to the Binet residence, where she found Liam pacing nervously.

"Well? Who was it?"

"Eve. She was willing to kill me to protect your secret."

His eyes widened.

"What? I didn't think she cared that much about us. Not enough to hurt someone!" He started wringing his hands. "I didn't mean for that to happen, I swear."

"Calm down, Liam. We still need to figure out what to do next."

He took a deep breath and nodded.

"I had an idea while I was waiting for you to return. We can frame Justin Ayo." He raised a hand towards her, as though expecting her to object. "Ever since Doctor Zimmer left, he's been out of control. His Coursers have been pushing people around and threatening them to get what he wants. Coming after my dad is the last straw."

"You're not the first person I've heard say something like this about Justin. If he were gone, would Alana take his place?"

Liam nodded.

"She's honest, fair and good at what she does. A much better choice to lead the SRB."

"So how do we do this?"

"You'll need to sneak into Justin's quarters and disable the safeguards on his private terminal. Once that's done, I'll be able to remotely plant evidence to make it look like he's the one helping the synths."

Nora nodded and checked the time on her pip boy. 

"When's he likely to return to his quarters?"

"Not till late tonight. I heard him talking about having to wipe a couple of synths who were showing too much independence."

Nora grimaced at that, but nodded.

"OK, I'll go take care of it now, then."

When she returned to the Binet quarters some time later, Liam gave her a triumphant smile.

"It's done."

She nodded.

"OK, and now for the last step."

She made her way up to Shaun's quarters, stopping off again in Justin's quarters for a few minutes. She found Shaun seated on his couch, reading through some reports. He looked up when she entered.

"Mother. I didn't know you had returned."

"I came to report back on a couple of tasks your people asked me to help with."

He nodded affably, but frowned when she hesitated.

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't know if it's wrong, but it's disturbing."

He waved her to a chair and she sat across from him.

"Justin asked me to help him look into the matter of escaping synths. He said he believed Alan Binet was changing the duty rosters, but…" she shook her head, "everything I've found so far indicates that it's Justin himself who is helping synths escape, and the so-called evidence on the Robotics terminals was planted to incriminate Alan." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a holotape. "I copied this from Justin's private terminal in his quarters."

Shaun took the holotape, stood and made his way slowly to his terminal, where he plugged in the holotape and reviewed the information. Nora watched him, hoping Liam was as good as he thought he was. Shaun turned back to her with a look of anger and betrayal.

"Thank you, Mother. I will deal with this."

She nodded and stood, wiping her damp palms on her thighs.

"I'll be back in a few days for the Directorate meeting, Shaun."

He nodded.

"See you then."


	7. Here There Be Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines investigate a strange shape in the harbor.

Nora and Piper turned in place, weapons drawn, waiting. After a few moments, Nora lowered her rifle.

"I think that was the last of them."

Piper nodded and prodded the nearest mole rat corpse with the toe of her boot, then looked around the basement of the Shamrock Taphouse.

"Anything interesting down here?" She frowned, and gestured towards the end of the room. "Weird looking protectron." She glanced at the name printed along the top of its chassis. "Drinkin' Buddy."

Nora looked up from the terminal she was reading.

"Apparently it's a prototype beer brewing machine."

Piper walked over to the terminal controlling the robot and turned it on. She poked around for a few minutes, then sighed and shook her head.

"I'm out of my depth here."

"Hmm?" Nora looked up and Piper gestured at the terminal. "Oh. He hid the password to that terminal somewhere here in the basement." She straightened up and started looking through the cabinets next to her, while Piper checked the shelves next to the robot. She took a few steps back and looked at the higher shelves.

"There's a toolbox up on that top shelf. Maybe it's in there." She jogged to the stairs and clambered from the top step up onto the shelving unit and crawled along to where she had seen the toolbox. "Aha!" She held up a holotape. Nora held up her hands and Piper tossed it down, then crawled back to the staircase. By the time she rejoined Nora, the robot was booting up.

"Beginning start up sequence. Unknown hardware detected. Auxiliary BIOS detected."

They stepped back as the bot stepped off its charging platform and continued its start up routine.

"Microbrewers, operational. Internal bottling mechanism, operational. Output dispensary, operational. Detecting brewing subroutines. Holotape detected for Gwinnett Pale Ale. Start up sequence complete. Dispensing sample for approval by technician." 

There was a gurgling, a clanking, and a hissing, and a compartment on the front of the bot opened, revealing a bottle of beer. The robot reached in, grabbed the bottle and held it out to them. Nora took the beer from him.

"It's cold!" She shrugged. "I mean, it said in the journal that the placement of the… something or other, had the side effect of cooling the beer as it was bottled, but it's actually really cold!" She twisted the cap off the bottle and took a long drink, then held the bottle out to Piper, who also took a swig.

"How would you rate the testing sample provided?"

Nora chuckled.

"It was really good. Do you know how long it's been since I had a really cold beer?"

"Very good. I appear to be operating at an optimal level. Shall we commence delivery to the Hotel Rexford?"

Piper looked at her in surprise.

"The Rexford?"

"Apparently the engineer who developed him had a financial backer at the Rexford. He was supposed to spend a month there to drum up interest." She turned to the robot. "We're not going to the Rexford. The people who made that plan are long dead. You're coming with us."

Piper grinned.

"This little guy's gonna be real popular."

"Understood. Are you ready to set the parameter HOME at this time?"

"Give me a second." Nora opened the map on her pip boy and called up the coordinates for Hangman's Alley. "OK." She read out the coordinates to him.

"HOME parameter accepted. Beginning transit."

They watched as it headed up the back steps and pushed open the trap door. Piper frowned.

"So, we're just letting it go by itself?"

Nora shrugged.

"According to the terminal over there, it's sturdy enough to take a hit from a truck. I don't particularly want to babysit it on the way, do you?" Piper shook her head. They followed it up the steps and watched it out of sight. Nora frowned and put a hand on Piper's arm. 

"Did you hear that?"

"All I can hear is Buddy clanking."

Nora turned towards the dock behind the restaurant.

"Sounded like a kid."

"Maybe it was a seagull. Sometimes they sound like cats."

"Maybe."

She walked out onto the dock and looked around.

"There!" She took off down the dock at a jog, with Piper following. A short way along, she turned along the side of a warehouse. As they got closer, Piper finally heard the voice too.

"There it is, I see it!"

They rounded the corner of the building to find a small boy standing at the edge of the pier, looking out into the harbor. He turned when he heard their footsteps. "Whoa! That was awesome!"

"What did you see?"

He pointed.

"A big eye in the water. There's a sea monster in the harbor!"

Piper glanced at Nora with a grin.

"A sea monster, huh?"

"Yeah! I saw its big eye poke up out of the water and look around." He glanced between them. "Do you think its dangerous?" He sounded almost hopeful. "It hasn't attacked anyone yet, but maybe it's just waiting."

Nora looked out over the harbor in the direction the boy had been looking.

"All I see is wrecked boats and debris. Have you seen more than just its eye?"

"Nah, just the eye stalk, you know, like some bugs have? Every once in a while, it comes out of the water and looks around, like it's hunting for something." His eyes brightened. "I bet it wants fresh meat, like us. Only then you'd have to kill it and leave its dead body here all bloody and stuff. That would be so awesome."

Nora grinned at him.

"That's quite an imagination you have, kid."

"I didn't imagine it. Honest! Go see for yourself."

"How often are you out here?"

He shrugged.

"All the time. I live in that room over there," he gestured at the warehouse behind them. "My dad died a while back. Now I just fish for food and try to stay away from the mirelurks."

Nora frowned and glanced at Piper, who was looking at the boy with a horrified expression.

"How old are you?"

"Eight."

Piper knelt in front of him.

"Hey, would you like to come live with us?" She glanced up at Nora, who nodded.

"But what about the sea monster? If I leave I'll never find out if it was real."

Nora crouched next to Piper. 

"What's your name, kiddo?"

"Donny Kowalski."

"Donny. If we go find the sea monster and tell you all about it, then would you like to come live with us?"

He nodded. 

"OK."

Nora took off her pack and pulled out her rifle scope. 

"Where did you see the eye?"

He pointed.

"Just past that boat with all the stuff on it."

Nora raised the scope and looked through it. She lowered it after a moment and glanced at Piper.

"I saw something move." She held the scope out to her.

"I told you I didn't make it up!"

Piper handed the scope back after a few moments and shrugged. 

"I don't know." She looked down at the water and grimaced. "I don't particularly want to go for a swim. How are we supposed to get out there?"

Nora looked up and down the dock. 

"There must a rowboat in one of these shacks."

They left Donny peering out over the harbor again and started looking through the buildings along the dock, until they found a small boat. They got it into the water and themselves into the boat, and Nora sat at the oars. She glanced at Piper, who was gripping the bench she was sitting on tightly.

"You'll have to give me directions."

Piper frowned in confusion.

"What? Why?"

"Because when you row, you have your back to where you're going." She took a couple of strokes to demonstrate.

"Well, that doesn't seem very efficient. Left a little."

"Your left or mine?"

Piper pointed.

"You've got more leverage if you pull." Nora turned the boat slightly and continued rowing. "If you want to face forward, you need a canoe or a kayak."

"How'd you learn all this? That way a bit."

"Summer camp."

"Slow down, we're nearly there. There's definitely something under the water just there."

Nora dug in the oars, and turned in her seat. She blinked in surprise.

"It's a periscope."

Piper frowned.

"Which means?"

"It means this is a submarine, not a sea monster." She looked around, then pointed. "Good. The hatch is above water." She maneuvered the boat over to the periscope and threw a line around it, tying it fast. She shipped the oars, and looked at Piper. "Ready?"


	8. Yangtze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines adopt a son.

Nora turned the valve holding the hatch closed, and lifted it. She looked down and sniffed, making a face. 

"A bit musty, but it seems OK."

She turned around and started climbing down the ladder. Piper followed after a few seconds. They paused at the bottom, in front of another door. Again, Nora turned the valve in the middle of it, and pushed it open, revealing the sub's bridge. 

Nora took a sharp breath and clutched Piper's arm. Piper looked at her in surprise.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a whisper.

"It's… a Chinese sub." As she looked around, horror struck, they noticed a figure standing by the periscope controls. He turned towards them, revealing a ghoul in a Chinese officer's uniform, and Nora clapped a hand over her mouth, choking back a sob. Piper put an arm around her waist, looking at her in concern.

"I watched you talk to a boy on the dock. Row out here. You appear… able… but not a threat. No. Come in _he ping_. Uh… peace?"

Nora sniffed and wiped her nose, clinging to Piper with her other hand.

"Are you… is this… one of the boats that attacked us two hundred years ago?"

The ghoul frowned slightly.

"It has been that long? _Shi de_. Yes. I suppose it has. Long ago, just after the fire, Yangtze struck a mine. My _qianting_ barely made it here into harbor. City already in ruins by then. Few noticed us. Fewer cared. Too much _tong ku_ ," he finished with sorrow evident in his voice. He looked closely at Nora. "You are… very affected by my presence." He glanced at Piper, whose attention was still mostly on Nora. "More than your friend."

Nora took a deep shaky breath.

"I saw the attack. I lost nearly everyone." 

The captain frowned in confusion. Nora shook her head.

"It's a long story." She gulped and looked around. "It took me by surprise… finding you here."

"Why are you here?"

"The boy on the dock, he's watching you too. Thinks you're a sea monster."

He tutted.

"Had hoped he'd get bored. Leave. I need no one seeing my _qianting_ … uh, submarine. My beautiful Yangtze. I could have killed him. Easy." He saw the looks of horror they gave him. "But… I do not think that way. Not anymore. That does not explain why you came here. And my Yangtze holds no _bao wu._ No... treasure. Nothing for you to plunder.""

"He's all alone. But he won't let us help him until he knows what you are."

He nodded. 

"Now you have learned and can take him away. But your arrival is good _xingyun_ for me. I need help, you see. Yangtze is not… uh… seaworthy. You will help me fix her?"

Piper frowned.

"Why would you trust us? We're strangers."

He sighed.

"Trust is risk. But a man must plow with oxen he has. You are not like raiders that board my _qianting_ , my Yangtze. You show peace. _Xie xie._ "

"What will you do with the submarine once it's fixed?"

"I sail for Zhongguo. Return to China. Where I belong. My _jia_. My home."

"What will you do there?"

"Anything Zao can do. If China is gone, I will build. House by house. And if no houses can be built, I will die. My _jia_. At peace."

Nora glanced at Piper, who nodded at her.

"We'll help however we can."

"Ha! Yes! Thank you. _Xie xie_ , my friends. First problem, Yangtze has no power. If we get reactor working? Probably enough. There is damage to a… uh.. dampening coil. Bad damage. Need new coil. I have information. Intelligence, from war time. Dampening coils are at a facility called Saugus Ironworks."

Nora nodded.

"We know where that is. What about the nuclear fuel?"

"I have idea for that. But first, dampening coil."

"We'll get it for you. But we need to take care of the boy first."

The captain nodded.

"Of course. You go. Get the dampening coil. I will work on repairing the bridge control systems. Much _gong zuo_.

They turned and left the bridge, closing the door behind them. Piper put a hand on Nora's arm and turned her to face her.

"You OK, Blue?"

Nora took a deep breath and nodded.

"We'd been at war with his people most of my life. We were constantly bombarded with anti-Chinese and anti-communist propaganda. Seeing this… seeing him, brought all that back. It was a knee-jerk reaction." She shook her head. "I was this close," she held up her hand with her thumb and forefinger an inch apart, "to drawing my weapon on him." She took a shaky breath. "Two hundred years after we annihilated each other, and I was ready to start it all over again."

Piper put her arms around Nora and pulled her close.

"But you didn't, Blue. You're better than that."

They exited the sub a few minutes later, and Nora started rowing them back to shore. Donny was waiting eagerly for them on the dock.

"Did you fight it? Did you kill it? I didn't hear anything, and I couldn't see you anymore."

Nora knelt in front of him.

"It's a submarine, not a sea monster. Sorry, kiddo.

"Really? Aw, nuts! Nothing exciting ever happens here."

"Hey, but guess what. That's a two-hundred year-old sub out there, and the captain's still in it. And he was watching you the whole time you were watching him."

The little boy's eyes widened and he looked between Nora and Piper.

"Really?"

Piper nodded.

"Really. He was worried you were going to tell everyone he was out there and get him in trouble."

"Wow!"

Nora smiled.

"Hey, so are you ready to come with us now?"

He looked between them again.

"You really meant it?"

"Yeah, of course we did." Nora stood and gestured towards the shack behind them. "Is there anything you'd like to bring with you?"

They followed him into the small room and waited as he collected a few toys and other things and allowed Nora to put them in her pack.

"Where are we going?"

"Diamond City."

His eyes widened.

"Really?"

Piper nodded and offered him her hand. He hesitated a moment before taking it. They left the shack, Nora following them a few moments later, shrugging her pack back onto her shoulders. The boy shyly slipped his free hand into hers and they started back towards Diamond City.

Donny started flagging after a couple of miles, so Nora picked him up and carried him. By the time they reached the stadium around dusk, he was asleep on her shoulder.

Piper gave Nora a worried look as they walked down the steps into the marketplace.

"Are you really OK with this? I kind of just told him we'd take him without consulting you."

"Of course we were going to take him, Pipes. What kind of monsters would leave a child alone like that? I was on the point of telling him the same thing myself." She stopped in the middle of the Marketplace. "He didn't have any extra clothes, did you notice?" Piper nodded. "We should probably go visit Becky first."

"Good idea." She reached up to pat his back gently. "Hey, Donny?"

He lifted his head and rubbed his eyes.

"Are we there yet?"

"Yup, we're here." Nora set him down on his feet and took his hand again. "We're just going to stop off and get you some clothes first."

He looked down at himself.

"I'm already wearing clothes."

Nora nodded and started leading him towards Fallon's Basement.

"But you need more than that." She opened the door to the clothing store and led him into it. Becky Fallon walked up to them with a smile. "Hi, Becky. We're going to need to fully outfit this young man. Undies, pajamas, a couple of sets of clothes, a jacket, maybe a sweater or two. Can you manage it?"

Becky looked him up and down musingly and nodded.

"Yes, I should have everything you need."

They spent the next half hour looking through children's clothes, with Donny looking progressively more dazed as time passed. He managed to make a few decisions on colors, but mostly leaned against Piper's side and watched them silently. When they left Fallon's, Nora's arms were stacked with clothes. She stopped outside the door to Home Plate and turned to him.

"You ready to meet the rest of the family?"

He gave her a look of near panic, and Piper crouched next to him and rubbed his back gently.

"Hey, it's OK. It's just three people and a dog. OK?"

He nodded and Nora opened the door and led him in. They found Cait, Curie and Nat sitting at the dining room table finishing dinner. Nat got up and ran to hug Piper.

"You're back!"

Nora stepped forward and dumped the pile of clothes on one of the armchairs.

"Everyone, this is Donny. He'll be living with us now." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Donny, this is Nat, Piper's sister. And these are Cait and Curie, our friends, who also live here." A furry head poked out from under the table. "And that's Dogmeat." Dogmeat came out from under the table and sniffed Donny, who shrank back against Piper.

"It's OK, he won't hurt you. I know he's big, but he's a big softy. Aren't you, Dogmeat?" Piper scratched him under his chin and he closed his eyes blissfully. Donny giggled and reached a hand out tentatively. 

"He likes having his ears scratched," Nora suggested. She left him making friends with Dogmeat and walked over to sit next to Curie.

"Do you think you could look him over tomorrow, just to make sure he's OK? He's been living alone for a while."

She nodded seriously. 

"Yes, of course."

Nora patted her arm. 

"Thanks, Curie." She glanced back at the table, then turned to the boy. "Hey, Donny. Are you hungry?"

He was currently squashed between Piper's legs and Dogmeat, who was now leaning against him making happy groaning sounds as Donny scratched his ears. He nodded shyly.

"There's plenty left here. Wash your hands, and I'll get you a plate."

He looked at her blankly, then down at his hands.

"But they're clean!" He held them up.

Nora laughed.

"Even if they were clean before, you've been petting Dogmeat, and he's been known to lick his own butt and then lick his fur. Dogmeat, go lie down. You can play with the kids again later." She took Donny's hand and led him to the sink, kicking a little wooden step stool in front of it for him to stand on and turning the water on for him. She got him a plate of food and sat him down between Cait and Curie, and leaving him under their watchful eyes, followed Nat and Piper into Nat's bedroom where they sat with her on her bed.

"How come he's gonna be living with us?"

"Because he didn't have anyone else to take care of him," Piper answered.

"Am I going to have to share my room with him?"

Nora tucked a strand of hair behind Nat's ear. 

"Would you mind? At least for a little while? We might be able to patch up the trailer on the roof and make a room for him there but it'll take some time."

Nat looked at her in wide eyed horror.

"You're going to give up your workshop?"

Nora nodded. Nat shook her head.

"That's our space!" She sighed theatrically. "He can stay here with me."

Piper smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. Nora pulled her into a hug.

"You're a good kid, Nat."

Nat grumbled something unintelligible, but half smiled as she leaned against her.

When they returned to the main room, Donny was practically asleep over his plate.

"Come on, kiddo. Let's get you washed up so you can go to bed."

“But ‘m not tired.”

Nora smiled and led him into the bathroom and helped him strip off his ragged clothes, shaking her head in concern at his skinny frame and prominent bones. She scrubbed him down with a washcloth, while he ran his hands wonderingly through the stream of water from the shower.

"We never had one of these. I always had to take a bath in a little round tub, and the water was cold."

Nora smiled at him as she finished soaping him down.

"OK, close your eyes and step into the water to rinse off. Keep your eyes closed, because the soap will sting if it gets into them."

She chuckled as he spluttered under the stream of water, then stood and turned it off.

"Aww."

She grinned at him.

"Don't worry. You can do this again tomorrow night."

"Really?"

"Really."

There was a tap on the door and Piper entered with a clean towel and the pajamas and underwear they'd just bought from Becky Fallon. Once he was dressed, they led him back out to the living room, where Piper had laid a blanket and pillow on the couch.

"You can sleep here tonight, and we'll get you a real bed tomorrow."

Nora pointed to the staircase.

"Piper and I sleep up there. If you need anything in the night, come and get us, OK?"

He nodded blearily. She pushed him back against the pillow, pulled the blanket up around him and kissed his forehead.

"Night, kiddo."

Piper leaned down to kiss him as well and they walked back to Nat's room, hand in hand. She was lying in her bed with a comic book. 

"Whatcha reading?"

She held up the comic. 

"Grognak."

"Don't stay up too late, OK, kiddo?" Piper leaned over to kiss her and she nodded. "Good night, sis."

Nora looked around.

"Where's Dogmeat?"

Hearing his name, the dog poked his head out from under the bed. Nora leaned down and scratched his head.

"Guard the house, Dogmeat." 

He put his head down on his paws and watched them. Nora leaned in to kiss Nat.

"Good night, Nat."

"You know," she glanced between Nora and Piper, "I'm getting pretty old, now. You don't have to tuck me in."

Piper looked stricken, but Nora squeezed her hand and grinned, poking Nat in the side, and making her squirm and giggle.

"We don't _have_ to, no. But we _want_ to, because how else will you know how much we lurve you?"

Nat rolled her eyes, but she was still giggling as Piper and Nora left her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because seriously, why can't you at the very least send Donny to one of your settlements??


	9. Donny

Nora was woken by a thump against her arm, followed by something cold and wet against her ear. She jerked away from it and opened her eyes just as Dogmeat reached forward to poke her arm again. She half noticed the rumble of thunder overhead.

"What is it, boy? Thunderstorm got you spooked?" she asked in a whisper.

As soon as she sat up, he walked to the doorway, then turned to look at her, as if to make sure she was following.

"All right. I'm coming."

She stood, yawning, and followed the dog down the stairs. He stopped at the couch and leaned his head on the cushions with a soft whine. When Nora reached him, she saw that Donny was curled up in the corner of the couch, with his arms over his head. She sat next to him and rubbed a hand gently over his back.

"Hey, buddy. Something wrong?"

He gulped and shook his head, then winced and dove deeper into the corner as another peal of thunder sounded.

"Don't much like thunderstorms, huh?" she asked casually.

He peeked out from under his arms, and shook his head tentatively.

"Me neither. They don't bother me too much when I'm inside, but I hate getting caught out in one." 

His eyes widened slightly at this confession.

"I thought grown ups weren't afraid of anything."

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"Most of us are afraid of all kinds of things. We've just learned to hide it better, mostly. Say," she said, as if she'd just thought of something, "would you like to come sleep upstairs? You'd be a bit closer to the storm, but at least you'd have company. Sometimes scary stuff isn't as scary if there's someone with you."

He hesitated, then nodded. She held her arms out to him and picked him up when he held his out in response. She turned to Dogmeat, who had been sitting next to the couch the whole time.

"Good boy, Dogmeat. Go find Nat."

As the dog returned to Nat's bedroom, Nora carried Donny up to her and Piper's room. Piper stirred as they entered.

"Blue?"

Nora set Donny down in the middle of the bed.

"Thunderstorm," she said in explanation.

Piper pulled the little boy close, and he buried himself against her shoulder as a particularly loud peal of thunder sounded. Nora got in next to them, pulled the covers over the three of them, and resumed rubbing a hand soothingly over the boy's back.

\+ + +

"He is somewhat malnourished, but otherwise healthy," Curie told them the next morning after examining Donny.

Piper raised an eyebrow.

"Somewhat malnourished? I know kids vary, but he seems a bit stunted for an eight-year-old."

Curie frowned.

"Eight?" She shook her head. "I place his age closer to six, based on the number of milk teeth he still has."

"He told us he was eight," Nora said.

Piper shrugged.

"Maybe that's how old his dad told him he was. Or maybe he hasn't been taught basic counting. Or he could have just wanted to appear older."

Nora nodded and turned back to Curie.

"But other than that he's OK?"

Curie nodded.

"A few minor cuts and abrasions, but those are to be expected in an active child."

"Thanks, Curie."

They returned to the living room, where they'd left Donny sitting on the couch with Dogmeat, and sat on either side of him.

"Hey, kiddo. We wanted to ask you some questions, is that OK?" Piper smiled encouragingly at him.

Donny nodded hesitantly.

"Have you ever been to school?"

He frowned.

"Where's that?"

Nora half smiled and shook her head.

"It's a place some kids go to learn to read and write. Did your dad teach you to read or write? Did he teach you your numbers?"

"He said he was gonna teach me when I was older."

Piper put a gentle hand on his back.

"You mentioned your dad. But do you know what happened to your mom?"

He shook his head.

"I never had one."

"What about other relatives? Did you ever meet any aunts or uncles? Grandparents?"

He frowned and shook his head, starting to look distressed. Nora put a hand on his head.

"I know it's a lot of questions, kiddo. We just want to make sure there's nobody out there who might be missing you."

He shook his head again.

"It was always just me and my dad," he said softly. "Sometimes we stopped at little settlements, but mostly we were out by the water, fishing, just the two of us."

"It's a few more than just two now. Are you OK with that?" Nora asked him.

He shrugged. Nora put a hand on his back.

"If you start to get overwhelmed with the number of people around you, there's places you can go to be by yourself for a while, OK?"

He nodded. Piper stood and held her hand out to him.

"Starting tomorrow, you're going to be going to school with Nat. But I want you to meet your teacher today." She glanced at Nora. "I sent a note with Nat, so he should be expecting us."

Nora nodded and the three of them made their way to the Diamond City schoolroom. Mister Zwicky stood when he saw them come up the stairs.

"Ah, our new pupil. Miss Edna, my dear, would you mind taking over for a few minutes?"

The Miss Nanny assistant assented, and Mister Zwicky ushered them back down the stairs. He turned and looked Donny over for a few moments, before smiling at him.

"So, young man, tell me, have you ever attended school before?"

Donny shook his head. Mister Zwicky nodded, pulled a piece of chalk out of his pocket and wrote a few letters on the ground between them.

"Do you recognize any of these symbols?"

Donny pointed to one of them.

"That's a D, for Donny."

"Very good, my boy." He erased the marks he had made and stood, turning to Nora and Piper. "I will start him off with a first grade curriculum and adjust as needed." They nodded and he turned back to Donny. "I will see you tomorrow, young man, bright and early."

He turned and headed back up the stairs, while the three of them headed back out to the marketplace. Nora and Piper led Donny towards the entrance of Diamond City. 

"Where're we going now?"

"A little settlement called Hangman's Alley. There's a couple of people who live there that we want you to meet."

They entered the settlement a few minutes later and made their way up to Nora's mother's and sister's apartment. Vicky answered the door and grinned delightedly when she saw them. 

"Mami, it's Nora and Piper." She hugged them both, then glanced down at Donny, who was leaning shyly against Piper. "And who's this?"

Luisa joined them at the door just at that moment, and Nora took Donny's hand and pulled him in front of her, placing her hands on his shoulders. 

"Mami, Vicky, this is Donny," she glanced at Piper, "our son. Donny, this is my mother and my sister. Your grandmother and your aunt."

Luisa smiled broadly, crouched down in front of him and opened her arms to him. He looked up at Nora, who smiled at him, and stepped into her embrace.

"Welcome to the family, mi hijito. You can call me Abue." She kissed the side of his head and released him. She looked closely at him. "Are you hungry?" She shook her head and answered her own question. "Of course you're hungry, you're a growing boy. Come with me. I will get you something to eat." She stood and held out a hand to him. Donny gave Piper and Nora a half panicked look, before taking her hand and quickly finding himself seated at the dining room table in front of a heaping plate of food.

Vicky laughed and shook her head, then turned to Nora and Piper.

"So… immaculate conception?"

Nora rolled her eyes and smacked her sister lightly on the arm.

"We found him yesterday," Piper explained. "His dad had died a few weeks ago, and he'd been living alone ever since."

Vicky frowned and glanced back at the boy, who was stuffing his face under Luisa's approving supervision.

"Poor little guy. No wonder he's so skinny."

They spent several hours with Luisa and Vicky, until Nora checked the time on her pip boy and discovered that half the afternoon had already passed.

"Time to go home, Donny."

"Aww, do we have to?" Donny looked up from where Vicky was teaching him to play checkers.

"Yeah, do you have to?" Vicky chimed in.

Nora rolled her eyes.

"Don't you start." Vicky grinned and wrinkled her nose. Nora held her hand out to Donny. "We'll visit again soon. We still have to set up a bed for you so you won't have to sleep on the couch tonight, remember."

He sighed and nodded. Luisa held her arms out to him, and he stepped much more eagerly into the embrace this time. 

"We'll see you again soon, mi hijo."

"Bye, Abue." He turned to Vicky, who held a hand up for a high five. "Bye, Tia." He smacked her hand and she grinned triumphantly at Nora, who smirked.

Piper glanced at Nora as they made their way back to Diamond City. 

"This high five Vicky taught him?"

Nora shrugged.

"It was used mostly as a way to celebrate small achievements. Like, say you're playing baseball with your friends, and you get a home run. Your teammates might give you a high five when you get back to the dugout." She glanced down at Donny, who didn't seem to be listening to their conversation. "But it was also sometimes used as a greeting, especially with small children who might not want to give an adult a hug or a kiss, but would be willing to give a high five." She shrugged. "She could probably see how overwhelmed he was getting, and was trying to give him his space."

When they got back to Home Plate, Piper took one look at Donny's pinched face and pointed to the couch. 

"Nap time, I think."

"But I'm not tired," he wailed.

"You don't have to sleep if you're not sleepy, but I want you to lie down and rest for a little while," Nora said. "At the very least, based on the amount of food your Abue gave you, you should be in a food coma right now. Plus you were awake half the night with that thunderstorm."

"Come on." Piper got him settled on the couch, pulled the blanket up over him and kissed him. His eyes were already drifting shut. 

Nora and Piper went up to the workshop on the roof, leaving Dogmeat on guard with his chin on Donny's feet, and spent the next couple of hours assembling various bits of scrap Nora had collected into a bed frame, and moving it and a mattress into Nat's room.

Piper leaned tiredly against Nora as they finished. 

"Day one and I'm already pooped."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some screencaps of my Home Plate: [Imgur post](https://imgur.com/gallery/QdUid)
> 
> Mods used:  
> Home Plate - Mechanist Lair - Full workbenches  
> Place Everywhere  
> Scrap Everything  
> Alternate Settlements  
> Do it Yourshelf  
> Unlocked Settlement Objects (I have the whole suite)  
> Snapbeds  
> Worshop Workbench Marker


	10. Zao

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines fix a submarine.

Nora and Piper started out towards Saugus Ironworks after seeing the children off to school. After walking in silence for a while, Piper glanced at Nora.

"How much trouble are we going to have when we get there?"

Nora shook her head.

"Shouldn't have any, unless my reports have been going astray. Preston and I cleared it out a few months ago, as a favor to Abraham Finch, whose farm is not too far away. His younger son had gotten mixed up with the raider gang that had taken over the place, called themselves the Forged." She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Subtle they weren't. We both recognized the usefulness of the facility, so we set up a permanent garrison of Minutemen and workers at Finch Farm, from which we could retain control of the iron foundry. So it should just be a case of walking in, finding a dampening coil and walking out."

Piper smiled.

"Well, that's a pleasant surprise. What do they do for raw materials?"

"We route most of the metal scrap the scavengers bring in there, and melt it down so it can be reused."

"Wait, so the junk you're constantly picking up has more uses than just selling to Myrna?" Piper asked teasingly.

Nora grinned and bumped her shoulder fondly.

As Nora had promised, they had no difficulties when they reached the foundry. The difficulty came in actually finding the necessary dampening coil. Piper finally found mention of them in one of the facility's terminals, and went to find Nora to tell her where they needed to go.

As they left the foundry, Piper opened her arms and let the breeze blow against her.

"God, I thought I was gonna melt in there. I thought it was hot out here, but it feels practically wintery by comparison."

Nora shrugged and wiped sweat off her face.

"Well, the melting point of iron is nearly 3000 degrees Fahrenheit, so, yeah…"

They stopped for lunch at Finch Farm, and were invited to join Abigail and Abraham Finch and their grown sons for their midday meal. Abigail was a kind, no nonsense woman, and Piper liked her immediately. 

After the meal, they continued on their way to the Yangtze to deliver the dampening coil. Captain Zao was delighted to see them return. 

"You are back! The boy is well?"

Piper smiled.

"He's fine. And we have the dampening coil."

He smiled widely.

"You have dampening coil? _Youxiu. Youxiu._ Now to get nuclear fuel."

Nora frowned nervously.

"Where are you going to get that?"

"Ah… now that is the right question to ask. Two hundred years ago, I launched all of Yangtze's high-yield nuclear missiles." He hesitated. "As ordered." He looked down at his hands, and his voice was tinged with regret. "For two hundred years I have lived with that guilt. That shame. So much fire. Such _bei_." He sighed, then looked back up at them. "But one missile failed to launch. You must go down, remove the warhead, then bring it to me."

Nora's eyes widened.

"You want us to retrieve an active warhead?"

He nodded.

"It should be safe enough. The casing will protect you from radiation."

She gulped and nodded.

"OK. I'm on it."

"I admire your spirit. While you are getting warhead, I will prepare the reactor." They turned to leave, but paused when he held up a hand. "But now I must warn you. There is danger. _Wei xian!_ Old crew still down there. Not OK like their captain. Worse."

Piper frowned.

"Worse? They went feral?"

He looked at her in confusion and shook his head.

"This word I do not know."

"They look like you," she gestured at his withered skin, "but lost their mental faculties? Became very aggressive?"

He nodded sadly.

"Yes. They do not harm me. But they will kill you. I… I cannot kill them. Still they are my crew. My family. _Jia ren_ all of us. But I fear there is no return from where they have gone. You must do what you must do."

Nora nodded somberly and turned to leave the bridge.

They discovered that not all the crew had been as lucky as Zao and the other ghouls. They came across several skeletons on their way to find the warhead. Piper grimaced when they came across the first one.

"I hate to sound unfeeling, but at least we won't have to fight this one," she whispered.

Nora nodded, and paused when her pip boy's geiger counter started to chatter.

"Hold on. We should probably take some rad-x." She reached into her pack for the bottle, handed a pill to Piper and took one herself. 

About half a dozen of Zao's crew had turned feral. It took them some time to deal with them all, before they finally made their way to the missile launch tube. Nora looked up and down the room, taking in the rows of empty tubes. Piper put a hand on her back.

"Are you…?" she shook her head. "OK's the wrong word, but I can't think of a better one."

Nora nodded.

"As OK as I can be." She reached out and squeezed Piper's hand gently.

She turned to the one remaining missile and took a deep breath, rubbing her hands nervously on her thighs, before reaching up to pop the hatch that held the warhead. She held her pip boy close to the open hatch and looked at the geiger counter, sighing with relief when the level didn't rise any further. She glanced back at Piper, who was biting her thumb nervously, then reached in and carefully drew out the warhead.

They made their way slowly back to the control room, with Nora taking soft, even steps, doing her best not to jostle the small, but remarkably heavy cylinder of death she was carrying.

When they reached the control room, she put it down on top of one of the consoles and sighed with relief. Zao turned to look at them.

"No difficulty with the warhead, I trust?"

Nora gave a sharp bark of laugher.

"Nah, no sweat. The radiation did give me superpowers, though. X-ray vision. Love the leopard g-string."

Piper smiled and shook her head. Nora always seemed to default to snark and sarcasm when she was stressed. Zao laughed.

"Two hundred years, and your American humor is still bad. America liberating Anchorage? Now that was a good joke." He turned serious again. "Now, here is what you must do. Head down to the reactor. Take dampening coil and warhead with you." Nora gulped and shuddered. "First, insert the dampening coil. Carefully. _Xiao xin._ Then put warhead into the reactor. As you do that, I monitor power levels from the control room. Do not put warhead in first! Do that? _Si wang._ Death for all three of us."

"Dampening coil first, unless we want to die. Got it." She glanced at Piper with a smirk. "Feeling suicidal today, Pipes?"

Piper frowned.

"Don't even joke about that, Blue."

Nora's smirk faded and she put a hand on Piper's arm.

"Sorry, Pipes. I crossed a line on that one." She took off her pack and handed Piper the dampening coil, then took a deep breath and picked up the warhead again.

Following the directions Zao had given them, they were quickly able to replace the damaged dampening coil with the one they had retrieved from Saugus Ironworks, and then install the warhead into the fuel cell chamber. With sighs of relief from both of them, they quickly made their way back to the control room.

Captain Zao greeted them with a bright smile.

"Was not sure my beautiful Yangtze would hold together. But we did it!"

Nora laughed.

"I'm kinda glad you didn't tell us that before. We were nervous enough as it was. I'm glad it worked. Anything else you need, or are you all set?"

"All set. My Yangtze should get me home now. You are a capitalist. I know you expect payment for services."

Piper snorted, and Zao looked at her in surprise. She shook her head.

"You obviously don't know her well."

Nora blushed and looked down, while Zao, continued, still shooting confused glances between the two of them.

"Instead, I would offer you service in exchange for your service. It is our way. Take these, uh... transponders." Nora held a hand out to take the devices he was offering her, and looked them over curiously. "Each one acts as a homing signal for missile I can fire from my Yangtze. Only small. Tactical nukes. But you should still get far away as possible! Throw transponder like a grenade to activate it. Then wait for _baozha_. Kaboom!" 

Nora's eyes got progressively wider and more horror struck as he continued his explanation. She shook her head.

"I… I can't take these."

She offered the transponders back to him. Piper gave him a hard look.

"Why would you let us use up your missiles?"

"I have no wish to bring weapons back home. I leave the fire here. And… I owe you. Zao pays his debts. Besides, my missiles just might," he chuckled, "'save your bacon.'"

Nora shook her head again. 

"Our home is still recovering from the 'fire' of two hundred years ago. I don't want to damage it further. If you want to repay me, fire off your missiles once you reach open water. Then neither your home nor mine will have to suffer their fire."

He hesitated, then nodded.

"Very well." He gave Piper an amused glance. "I think I see what you meant." Piper grinned and slipped an arm around Nora's waist. "Soon, I will set sail. You should go ashore. Farewell, Americans. I must admit, I have met… worse capitalists."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never, in any of my play-throughs, used those transponders. Those and the mini-nukes just don't make sense to any character I've played.


	11. Plans

Nora sat cross-legged on the bed, resting her cheek on one fist, looking through a book she had found on non-traditional construction styles and materials, book laid flat in front of her, and a notebook into which she was jotting thoughts and ideas to one side. 

She felt the mattress dip, and warm lips on her forehead and looked up to find Piper kneeling in front of her. She smiled.

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself. So…" Piper glanced down at the book, "you've been reading that for the past three hours. You ever planning on taking a break?"

Nora blinked.

"I have?" She glanced at her pip boy. "I have." She straightened up and stretched, making her back pop. She closed the book and laid it on top of the notebook with her pencil and yawned and rubbed her face. "Didn't realize it had been that long."

Path cleared, Piper smiled, crawled forward and arranged herself in Nora's lap, wrapping her legs around Nora's back and putting her arms around her neck. She rested her forehead against Nora's and sighed blissfully. Nora angled her head slightly and kissed her.

"Comfy?" she asked with a smile.

"Mm-hmm. Did you find anything interesting in that?"

Nora slipped her arms around Piper's waist.

"Yeah. Among other things, several relatively simple ways to make bricks, which should let us make sturdier houses than we can usually with corrugated metal." She smirked. "Some of the houses in there look like hobbit holes." She smiled at the blank look she could see in Piper's eyes, the only part of Piper she could see clearly, with their foreheads still leaning together. "It was a book about these tiny people who lived in holes. I'll have to see if it was on that holotape we got at the library. We can add it to the family reading list."

She slipped one hand under Piper's shirt and scratched her back gently. Piper's eyes closed and she made a low noise in the back of her throat.

"You can keep doing that for as long as you like." She opened her eyes again after a few moments and lifted her head slightly. "You know, we may need to put some of those techniques you've been learning about into practice if our family grows any more." She started combing her fingers through Nora's hair. Nora leaned her head on Piper's shoulder.

"I was thinking that too." She looked up again. "If we do have to, how would you feel about moving to Hamgman's Alley? I have that space I've been using as storage. It's bigger than this place and Publick Occurrences combined."

Piper frowned.

"Leave Diamond City?"

"Not fully. You'd still have Publick Occurences. The kids would still go to school here. With the Minutemen backing up the guards here, the walk over's never been safer."

"I guess so." She leaned in and dropped a kiss on the corner of Nora's mouth. "And that is a nice space. It's even got a little patio."

Nora reached up with her free hand and tucked a strand of hair behind Piper's ear.

"It's worth thinking about, anyway."

Piper nodded, leaning into Nora's touch.

"Hey, Piper?"

"Mmm?"

"My legs are asleep."

Piper sat up straight and looked at her.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

She started to pull back, but Nora tightened her arms around Piper's back and pulled her closer.

"I like having you close." She leaned in to kiss her. Piper smiled into the kiss.

"You're a doofus."

"Mm-hmm. But you still love me."

Piper chuckled and rolled off Nora's lap and Nora straightened her legs and groaned. She lay back, twitching occasionally as the feeling returned to her legs. Piper lay next to her with her head propped on her hand.

"I have to go back to the Institute tomorrow."

Piper sighed and rested a hand on Nora's stomach.

"That Directorate meeting?"

Nora nodded and placed her hand over Piper's, lacing their fingers together.

"Who's on the Directorate?"

"The heads of the departments… except Robotics, come to think of it. The synths are what they're most known for, and yet the head of the department that creates them isn't one of the directors. Huh… I wonder if it was always like that, or if it's just a reflection of their uneasiness with Alan Binet's views on synths." She paused to think for a few moments before continuing. "I guess, since Madison and Justin are both out as heads, their seconds will be taking over." She sighed. "I wish I knew why Shaun wanted me there."

"Well, you'll find out tomorrow." She leaned in and kissed Nora's temple. Nora turned on her side and burrowed against her chest with a groan.

"I don't wanna go to school tomorrow," she said in a muffled voice.

Piper bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Bad enough when Nat does that." She poked her in the side. "Come on. We'd better get downstairs before we're besieged by hungry children and dogs."


	12. Mankind Redefined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroine attends a meeting.

Nora stood in the glass elevator, hands in pockets, looking distractedly down into the atrium of the Institute, still wondering why Shaun had asked her to attend the Directorate meeting. It took her a couple of moments to realize the elevator had come to a stop and she stepped out of it. She saw a familiar figure at the foot of the staircase ahead of her, and called out.

"Allie!"

Allie Filmore turned and smiled when she saw her. She stopped and waited for Nora to catch up to her and gave her a brief hug.

"I didn't know you'd be back so soon. I'm afraid I can't chat long. I have to be in a meeting in a few minutes."

Nora nodded.

"The Directorate meeting. Me too. Shaun asked me to come."

Allie's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh. Well, let's go then." She smiled and turned towards the staircase again, Nora walking with her.

"So… anything interesting happen since I was last here?" Nora asked in a casual tone.

Allie eyed her sidelong.

"Justin Ayo's been banished."

Nora blinked.

"Banished? As in…?"

"As in kicked out of the Institute." Allie glanced at her again. "I have to ask, Nora, after our conversation during your last visit, did you have something to do with that?"

Nora nodded.

"I found some incriminating evidence on Justin's personal computer during the course of an investigation. I passed the information along to Shaun, but I didn't know what he was going to do. Banished." She frowned slightly. "Has that ever happened before?"

"Rarely. Only ever as a last resort."

She looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but they had reached the conference room above Shaun's quarters, and after a brief hesitation, she entered and took her seat around the conference table. Nora followed her, and took an empty seat next to her, nodding to Clayton Holdren, Alana Secord and Evan Watson, the scientist who had replaced Madison Li as the head of Advanced Systems. 

Shaun entered the room a few seconds later, and sat at the head of the table, giving everyone a tight smile. Nora, watching him carefully, noticed new lines of pain etched around his eyes and mouth, and dark circles under his eyes.

"Good, we're all here. Let us begin." He looked around the table, and noticed the glances most of them were giving Nora. "I will address my mother's presence at this meeting briefly, but there are other subjects that require our attention first." He turned to Allie. "Your report?"

Allie leaned forward slightly, her hands resting on the table.

"All Institute facilities remain completely secure, with… the exception of one notable breach." A quick glance towards Nora. "Otherwise, internally things are as tight as they've ever been. The SRB has been keeping an eye on things topside."

She glanced towards Alana Secord, who straightened the papers in front of her and nodded.

"Yes, uh… watchers show no additional threat beyond those previously identified. We're still monitoring the increased activity around Fort Independence, but there are no immediate signs we should be concerned. Boston International Airport remains occupied, with Brotherhood presence noted at several other points throughout the Commonwealth. Intelligence suggests that this "Railroad" continues to operate, and is becoming more… ambitious. SRB agents are monitoring all known situations, sir."

"Very good, thank you. It's clear that our safety needs to be the primary concern going forward. To that end, where are we on Phase Three?"

Evan Watson looked up in surprise.

"Excuse me, sir…" he stammered. "Are you sure this is, well, the proper time to be discussing that?" He glanced quickly at Nora. "Considering… I mean, given all parties present?" Another glance.

Shaun nodded. 

"Ah, yes. That's true." He turned towards Nora. "Have you heard anything about Phase Three?" Evan's eyes bulged out, and he nearly choked.

Nora shook her head.

"No. What's Phase Three?"

"It is a very important project. Power is, as I'm sure you've seen above ground, a very valuable commodity." He waved a hand. "I'm not talking about some abstract concept of control. I mean real, tangible power. The kind that keeps the lights on. With every advance the Institute makes, our need for raw power increases. Many compromises and sacrifices have been made over the years to allow progress to continue."

Nora frowned, as Evan fidgeted across the table.

"Compromises?"

Shaun sighed.

"We have, at times, had to rely on drawing power from above ground installations. It risks personnel and equipment. But no longer. Phase Three is, simply, the activation of a nuclear reactor that can provide enough power to the Institute now and forever. It will ensure, not just our survival, but our prosperity."

Nora's eyes widened.

"You built a nuclear reactor?"

Shaun shook his head.

"No, no. It was originally built for the Commonwealth Institute of Technology, before the war, but was only for testing. Over the years, we've advanced the technology, made a great many improvements, and are finally nearly ready to activate it." He turned back to Evan. "Your report?"

The scientist glanced again at Nora, then sighed.

"The reactor is close to ready. But our most recent testing has determined we still have work to do before we can activate it. We also still need a way to jump start the nuclear reaction."

Shaun nodded and looked at Nora.

"Perhaps you will be able to help us with this project."

Alana shifted slightly.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Doctor Secord. Previously we would have relied on Kellogg for above ground operations, yes? Well, he is gone. While I am not overly fond of putting my own mother in harm's way, she has proven more than capable of handling herself."

Nora raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment. Shaun paused for a moment, looking down at this hands.

"There is one more subject that requires discussion."

Clayton looked up sharply.

"Is this the right time to..."

Shaun cut him off.

"Doctor Holdren, it is time. Please." He took a breath. "As I'm sure several of you are already aware, I have been under Dr Volkert's care for some time." He hesitated and swallowed a couple of times. "I'm sorry, this is… difficult for me. Our best efforts have failed. Every experimental treatment we could devise, has been unsuccessful." He looked at each of them before continuing. "I'm… I'm sorry to say I am dying."

There were gasps around the table. Alana put a hand over her mouth. Allie glanced at Nora, then looked down at her lap. Shaun shook his head.

"I am sorry. This is not how I wanted to tell you, but we're running out of time. The future of the Institute is at stake. The Institute cannot survive without leadership. The Directorate must continue to govern with the best interests of all in mind." He looked around the table again. "To that end, I am naming my mother as my successor."

Nora felt as though she'd been sucker punched. She stared at Shaun in disbelief, only half hearing the reactions of the others around the table, only phasing back into the conversation when Clayton Holdren spoke up.

"How can you possible justify this? She isn't one of us… she's not even a scientist!"

Shaun gave him a stern look.

"Ignoring your borderline insubordinate tone, I will simply say this. The Institute has enough scientists. What it needs is a leader. I believe my mother has already proven herself more than capable in that regard. This will conclude this meeting. Thank you."

Nora watched the others leave and moved to the seat Allie had vacated, closer to Shaun. She hesitated for a moment, and Shaun spoke before she could articulate her thoughts.

"I hope it wasn't too presumptuous of me to put you in charge without even consulting you first."

Nora pressed her hands against her suddenly pounding temples. 

"Are you sure this is the right decision, Shaun? I haven't been shy about voicing my concerns about this place. Do you really want me taking over after you?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"I clearly have faith in you."

"But why?"

"Has it occurred to you, Mother, that I have actually listened to your diatribes, and taken some of what you've said to heart? That, perhaps, I have come to believe that change would be good for the Institute, and the Commonwealth?"

She blinked a few times.

"Uh… no. It hadn't."

"There's no question that some of the Directorate and the Institute at large, will need reassurances about your appointment. Your assistance in the various departments, and on the Phase Three project should allay some of those fears." He paused for a second. "I have another favor to ask of you, Mother."

She looked at him warily.

"What is it?"

"The child. The synth. I would like you to care for him when I'm gone."

Nora suddenly found it hard to breathe. 

"You can't ask me to do that."

He sighed.

"I had hoped… due to your connections to the Railroad group, that you would have avoided the prejudices against synths so prevalent in the Commonwealth."

She felt her eyes burn, and tried to swallow down the lump in her throat.

"It's not because he's a synth, Shaun."

"Ah." He looked down for a moment. "Whatever else he might be, however I might have used him, he does not cease to be a child. He is not to blame for his origin."

Nora looked away and swiped a tear from her cheek brusquely. 

"He has been reactivated. And he believes you are his mother, as, in a way, you are." She looked back at him, stricken. "If you would like to get to know him, you'll find him in Dr Li's old lab, in Advanced Systems."

She stood on shaky legs and walked out of the conference room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect less canon compliance as the story progresses.


	13. Shaun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which it never rains but it pours.

Nora stood in front of the door to Advanced Systems, gnawing on one thumb, her other arm held tightly against her body and supporting the other elbow, one knee jiggling nervously. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Allie looking at her in concern. 

"Something wrong, Nora?"

Nora glanced back at the door to Advanced Systems and stuck her hands in her pockets.

"Shaun told me they've revived the boy." She took a shaky breath. "He wants me to look after him when he's gone."

Allie took her elbow and led her to a nearby bench.

"Why does that have you so upset?"

Nora shook her head.

"You know what he is, Allie. How Shaun used him." She sniffed and rubbed her nose. "After seeing him in Kellogg's memories, I spent weeks getting used to the idea that my son, my baby boy wasn't a baby anymore. I spent weeks thinking of the images I'd seen, he was in my dreams and my nightmares." She shook her head. "I'd had nightmares about what could happen to him from the day I found out I was pregnant. I guess it goes with the territory when your world is on the brink of nuclear collapse." She laughed bitterly. "These were worse. And when I finally got here, when I finally found him, he was terrified of me and calling out for his father, and I couldn't reach him, physically or emotionally," by this time she was crying, while Allie rubbed her back soothingly and listened intently, "and then he just stopped and went inert, and I found out that this child I'd been thinking and dreaming of wasn't my son after all, that he was bait, that I hadn't just missed my son's infancy and early childhood, I'd missed his entire life. And now my son, the person who subjected me to all that, wants me to… to…" she made a despairing gesture and broke down completely. 

Allie pulled her close and let her vent her grief and anger in tears, offering her a handkerchief with which to clean herself up when she finally pulled away.

"What do you plan to do?"

Nora sighed twisting the soggy handkerchief in her hands.

"I can't in good conscience abandon him. I've heard people here talking about him. He makes them uneasy. Because he's going to be a child forever. You people are used to synths not aging, but you've never had to deal with a child who couldn't grow up." She shook her head. "I just… have to convince myself to go in there."

Allie put her hand on Nora's arm.

"Would you like some company?"

Nora looked at her gratefully and nodded. They stood and entered Advanced Systems together. Nora looked into Doctor Li's old office and frowned. When she had last seen the boy in there, she hadn't noticed the small glass enclosure in one corner. It was similar to the one in which she'd first seen the child in Shaun's quarters, but contained a bed, on which he was sitting cross-legged, with a partially disassembled alarm clock arrayed in front of him. She turned to Allie.

"This is where he lives? When Shaun said he was here, I… well, this isn't exactly what I was expecting."

Allie shrugged uncomfortably. 

"He's… an experiment, and he has no family to claim him, other than Shaun."

Nora stepped into the office.

"Hey, Shaun?"

He looked up and grinned when he saw her. Clambering carefully around the clock pieces he got off the bed, ran to her and put his arms around her.

"Mom!"

Nora's breath hitched, and she put a hesitant hand on his back, glancing helplessly at Allie, who was leaning against the desk watching them. He pulled back and looked up at Nora.

"I heard you're going to be in charge of the Institute someday." He wrinkled his nose. "That sounds like a lot of work. Are you excited or scared?"

Nora exchanged a glance with Allie.

"You heard that, huh? That's pretty impressive. I only found out about half an hour ago."

He shrugged.

"I heard Doctor Higgs saying you weren't qualified and we'd all be lucky if we lived another two years. He's funny sometimes."

Nora glanced again at Allie, who had raised an eyebrow at this. Nora turned back to Shaun and gestured toward the bed. 

"You look like you've been keeping busy. What are you up to?"

"I wanted to see how it works on the inside. And I think I can use the pieces to make something really cool. I'll show you when I'm done, if you like."

Nora smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

She shifted on her feet and his face fell slightly.

"Are you leaving now? When will I see you again?"

She hesitated, then held up a hand.

"Hold on just a second, Shaun. I need to ask someone a question."

Allie followed her as she stepped out of the office.

"What are you going to do, Nora? Nora?"

"Excuse me, Doctor Thomspon?"

Janet Thompson turned from the terminal she'd been typing into, and glanced between her and Allie.

"Can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you knew whether he," she gestured towards Doctor Li's office, "has the component that allows synths to use the relay, or whether it's something specific to X6-88's component that allowed him to transport with the boy?"

Janet blinked at her and glanced again at Allie, who was staring wide-eyed at Nora.

"Uh, the former. He has a modified courser chip."

Nora smiled. 

"Thank you."

She turned and headed back towards the office, with Allie babbling behind her.

"Nora, I know what you're thinking, but you can't, you can't just take him out of the Institute!"

Nora turned to her.

"Why not? He's living in a lab!"

"But it's dangerous out there. And he's just a child!"

"Danger didn't seem to be a concern when Shaun was using him as bait. And he's a synth. Synths were built to withstand the harshness of the Commonwealth so you wouldn't have to." She sighed and her voice softened. "I'm not planning on keeping him. Not yet, anyway. I just… I want to get to know him. I want him to meet my family."

Allie looked at her for a few moments, then nodded. Nora returned to Shaun and knelt in front of him.

"Hey, kiddo. How would you like to come see where I live? Maybe spend a night or two there?"

He looked confused.

"You mean your quarters, upstairs?"

"No, my home in Diamond City."

He blinked, then his face lit up.

"Outside the Institute? Where the work teams go? They bring back all sorts of neat things from the surface. Can I really?"

Nora glanced back at Allie, who looked resigned, and nodded at the boy, who grinned.

\+ + +

Nora set the relay to send them to the roof of one of the buildings in Hangman's Alley. Shaun looked around interestedly after they landed.

"Is this Diamond City?"

"No this is a settlement called Hangman's Alley. Diamond City is over there." She put her hands on his shoulders and turned him to face towards the stadium. "See that bit of green between those two buildings? That's part of the outside wall of Diamond City." She hesitated a moment, then turned him around and knelt in front of him. "Shaun, do you know what you are?"

He frowned.

"Do you mean, that I'm your son?"

She bit her lip, thinking.

"Can I tell you a story?" He nodded. "A long time ago, there was a very big war, and the two main countries in that war threw nuclear bombs at each other. In order to escape from the bombs, a lot of people ran to special underground bunkers that had promised to keep them safe. But instead, they did experiments, and the one where I and my husband and baby hid froze us, just to see what would happen. A long time later, some people found out about the baby, and wanted to take him, so they could use his DNA in some experiments they were doing to create artificial life. They killed the baby's father, because he didn't want to let him go, and froze me again. It was a long time before I woke up again and went looking for my baby, but by that time…" 

Shaun was frowning. 

"Your baby was Father?"

Nora nodded.

"But you're _my_ mom!"

Nora took his hands.

"You're a synth, a clone of Father. Do you know that word?" He nodded. "In a way, you are my son, because you have the same DNA. You're just not my original son. OK?"

His lip wobbled slightly, and he tried to tighten it.

"But you're still my mom?"

She put her arms around him and pulled him close.

"Yeah, kiddo. I'm still your mom." She stood and held a hand out to him. "Come on, we need to get you some different clothes. That jumpsuit's too noticeable for the surface."

She led him down to her mother's apartment, and knocked on the door. Her mother opened a short time later, wearing an apron, her hands covered in grease.

"Mi hija!" She wiped her hands on the apron and pulled Nora into a hug, then glanced down at Shaun and froze. 

"This is Shaun, mami."

Luisa took his face in her hands. 

"Of course it's Shaun. Look at him. Your eyes and hair, Nate's everything else. Who else could this be but my grandson?" She put her arms around him, and as Nora watched him melt against her, she realized the poor child was probably starved for affection, surrounded as he was by people who saw him as a machine and an experiment. Her eyes prickled and she swallowed hard.

"Shaun, this is your grandmother, my mother. Mami, I need to find him some clothes. Can he stay here for a few minutes?"

Luisa waved her away.

"Yes, yes, of course. Go. He will stay here and get to know his Abuelita. Oh, and while you're down there find your sister and tell her to come up."

They stayed in Hangman's Alley for a much shorter time than either Luisa or Vicky were happy with, but Nora was anxious to get home to Piper. With a promise to bring him back to visit soon, they left, and headed down the road to the stadium and to the door of Home Plate.

"Piper?"

Nat looked up from the picnic table where she was finishing her homework. 

"She's at the Publick." She looked at Shaun and frowned. "Another one? There isn't room in my bedroom for another one, Nora!"

Nora laughed as she bent to hug Donny, who had been playing on the living room rug with Dogmeat, then walked to the table and dropped a kiss on the top of Nat's head.

"Shaun's only visiting for now. He'll be sleeping on the couch." She glanced at him. "That OK with you?"

Shaun nodded wide-eyed. Nat eyed him with interest.

"Hey, wasn't your baby called Shaun?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"So that means he's…" she lowered her voice to a whisper, "from the Institute?"

"Yup." She turned to Shaun again. "I'm going to run across the street to find Piper. You think you'll be OK waiting here for me with Nat and Donny?"

He nodded again, and as she closed the door behind her, she heard Nat pelting him with questions about the Institute, while Donny asked if he could read and then demanded he read to him, because Nat refused to.

When she opened the door to Publick Occurrences, she found Piper cranking the handle on the printer, printing out the latest edition of the newspaper. She stopped when she saw Nora and put her arms around her. 

"How'd it go?"

"Um…"

Piper pulled back. 

"What's wrong?"

Nora shook her head.

"I'm just overwhelmed, and I'm not sure where to start. Though I guess I should start with the fact that there's a synth child in our living room."

Piper gasped.

"Shaun's clone? They let you take him out of the Institute?"

Nora scratched the back of her neck.

"I don't know about let. I didn't exactly ask permission." Piper looked scandalized, and Nora raised a hand placatingly. "One of the Directorate members knows where he is. I didn't outright kidnap him. They're not going to send coursers after him. I just… Shaun suddenly informed me he'd been revived, and that they'd told him I was his mother, and that he wanted me to look after him after he's… gone. And they have the poor kid living in a cubicle in a lab. I know we don't have room for him right now, but I wanted to spend some time with him, get to know him a little. At least give him a couple of days away from the lab." 

Piper put her arms around her again.

"Hey, it's OK. We'll figure something out." She kissed her and smiled. "Now how about you introduce me to your son."


	14. Liberty Re-primed again

"Can't I stay here with you?"

"Ye're sendin' him back there? After all ye've said about how they treat him?" Cait looked furious and incredulous. 

Curie, sitting next to her with a restraining hand on her arm, looked sternly at Nora, who pushed a stray lock of hair off Shaun's face and glanced at Piper.

"They're expecting you back, remember?" His face fell and he nodded. "It's only temporary. We need to figure out a room for you. You don't want to keep sleeping on the couch, right?"

He shrugged, not looking at her. Cait snorted from the other side of the room.

"What sort of excuse is that? If that's the only problem, Curie and I'll find somewhere else to live. The kid can stay in our room and you can go tell those Institute arseholes we're keepin' him." Curie looked at her in surprise, then gave her a smile that made the redhead blush and duck her head, and nodded firmly at Nora.

Piper held up a hand.

"Could you give us a minute?"

Cait opened her mouth to argue, but Curie took her hand and pulled her to her feet and out of the living room. Piper put her hands on Shaun's shoulders.

"Is this what you want, Shaun? To stay here with us for good?" He nodded, looking hopefully between her and Nora. "OK. Would you mind waiting for us in Nat and Donny's room?"

They watched him go, and once he was out of earshot, Piper turned to Nora.

"Cait's right." Nora blinked in surprise, and Piper squeezed her hand gently. "You were the one who told us how he was living, and you've heard some of the things he says about his life there. We can't send him back to that, Blue. He could be _Kellogg's_ clone and I wouldn't send him back to that." She raised a hand to the side of Nora's face. "I know we're jumping in with both feet, taking in two children within a couple of weeks of each other, but it's the right thing to do. I don't want you to feel like you have to take him back on my account, even if I'm not sure I'm ready for this much parenting out of nowhere."

Nora laughed weakly at that.

"No one's ever ready for parenthood. Anyone who tells you they weren't terrified at the beginning is lying."

"I said it before, we'll figure it out. He can keep sleeping on the couch for now, while we fix up that space in Hangman's Alley. We'll all help." Nora blinked back tears and nodded. "And in the meantime, you can go back to the Institute and tell your son that we're keeping him."

Nora closed the gap between them and kissed her.

"I love you. Did you know?" she asked with a smile as she pulled away.

Piper grinned.

"I had this suspicion."

"I think I'll stop off at the airport on the way back to talk to Doctor Li. She once told me she thinks there's a treatment she could give him that would let him grow up like a normal kid."

They called everyone back in before Nora left and made the announcement that Shaun would be staying. Shaun threw his arms around Nora and Piper, and then, to Cait's bemusement, around Cait and Curie as well, and Nat muttered halfheartedly under her breath about being overrun by boys, while Donny jumped up and down in excitement.

To Nora's surprise Shaun was quite complacent when she announced to him that she would be keeping the child with her in Diamond City. She even thought she saw a glint of satisfaction in his eyes when she told him. His only complaint appeared to be that she was taking the child to live with her, rather than moving to the Institute herself to live with him.

\+ + +

Madison Li was head and shoulders deep inside Liberty Prime's chest cavity when Nora arrived at the Boston Airport, while Proctor Ingram supervised her scribes on the reconstruction of other sections of the robot. Unfortunately for Nora, Ingram spotted her before she could pull Madison aside to talk to her.

"Ah, Knight. Welcome back. I was hoping you'd stop in soon."

Nora looked around the workshop with interest.

"How's the rebuilding coming along?"

"Doctor Li tells me she's making progress on repairing Prime's power systems." She lowered her voice slightly. "I had hoped for faster progress, to be perfectly honest. According to the log entries, it didn't take her anywhere near this long last time."

"He hadn't been blown up from space last time, either," came the sardonic reply from inside the robot's chest.

Nora bit back a smile.

"So, what did you need from me, Proctor?"

"I was hoping you'd do a bit of scavenging for me. We need to rebuild Prime's electromagnetic actuators."

"What exactly do you need me to get?"

Ingram smiled.

"That's what I love about you. You're ready to leap into action, and I bet you don't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about."

Nora shrugged.

"I mean, I know what the word means. The actuators are used to move its limbs. But beyond that, no, not a clue."

Ingram raised an eyebrow. 

"To be honest, I'm a little surprised you knew even that much."

Nora grinned.

"My mother was a robotics engineer. Even though I didn't follow in her footsteps, I still picked up some of the jargon."

Ingram nodded and reached into a folder on the console behind her, pulling out a sheet of paper.

"These are the materials we need. What I've written down is per actuator, and we need to build four."

Nora looked down the list and gave a low whistle. 

"This is… wow… uh, this is going to take a while to collect."

Ingram nodded. 

"I'm not expecting delivery tomorrow. Just get started. Off you go, then, Knight."

Ingram returned to the other side of the workshop, allowing Nora to step closer to Madison Li.

"That treatment you mentioned that could make synths age normally… is that something you'd still be able to do outside of the Institute?"

Madison extracted herself from the robot and looked sharply at Nora.

"They reactivated him, didn't they?"

Nora nodded. 

"He's with me in Diamond City now."

Madison blinked.

"They let you take him out of the Institute?"

Nora shrugged.

"I didn't exactly ask permission. Just… announced what I was doing."

Madison looked at her with grudging respect.

"To answer your question, yes. I have most of the equipment and materials I'd need."

"Most?"

"I would need a sample of his DNA. Preferably a blood sample." At Nora's questioning look, she continued. "The anti-aging has been coded into their genes. If I have a sample of his blood, I can ensure his body won't reject the therapy."

Nora nodded.

"I have a scientist friend in Diamond City who'd be able to draw some blood. I can have her do it the next time I'm headed out here and bring it to you."

Madison grunted in agreement and stuck her head back into the robot's chest.

"If anyone asks, you can tell them your child has a rare illness and I'm helping you find a cure for it. It's not too far from the truth, and the Brotherhood won't object to that as they would to the full truth."

"Thanks, Madison."


	15. Another year older

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the family moves.

It took two weeks for Piper, Nora, Cait and Curie, with Vicky's help, and the children pitching in after school and on weekends, to finish building in the new apartment. Nat hadn't been thrilled with the idea of moving to Hangman's Alley, until she found out she'd have her own room again, and that Donny would now be sharing with Shaun.

One afternoon, near the end of the building process, Curie entered the main room after a few hours' absence with a delighted look on her face. Cait, holding up a cabinet while Nora attached it to the wall, glanced back at her.

"Where ye been, darlin'?"

Curie smiled brightly and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

"There is something I must show you, when you 'ave a moment."

"Me?" Cait asked.

"Well, mainly Nora and Piper, but I believe everyone will find it a pleasant surprise."

"Give me just a minute, Curie," came Nora's voice from within the cabinet.

A little over a minute later, she pulled out of the cabinet and stepped off the ladder she'd been standing on, patting Cait's shoulder as she came down.

"You can let go now."

They took a couple of minutes to round everyone else up, and followed Curie downstairs and across the alley to the other building, where she led them to a pile of old blankets in the corner, from which emerged a series of high pitched grunts and squeaks. When they got closer, they saw the settlement's guard dog, Ranger, lying there surrounded by half a dozen squirming pups.

"Puppies!" Nat gasped.

She and the two boys knelt next to the nest, joining Duncan, who had been scratching Ranger's ears, while the proud mama wagged her tail stump and licked over her little brood.

"Be careful," Curie warned them. "They are brand new. Pet gently, but do not pick them up yet."

Nora and Piper looked at the litter of pups and then at each other and at Curie, who beamed proudly at them. She stepped closer to them, leaving Cait and Vicky kneeling over the puppies with the three children.

"They are, in fact, Dogmeat's pups. Ranger served as a surrogate." She lifted a warning hand. "There is still a great deal of work and testing to be done before I can be certain the technique will work in humans, but I am getting closer."

Nora and Piper looked at each other again, with half dazed, half delighted smiles and put their arms around each other. Nora smiled at Curie over Piper's head.

"Thanks."

Curie beamed.

"And in the meantime," Nora said, pulling away from Piper and crouching behind Nat, "puppies!"

\+ + +

"OK, who's going to help me clear up?" Piper asked.

Nora and Curie had prepared a veritable feast to celebrate the move into the new apartment in Hangman's Alley, and the family had been joined by Nora's mother and sister, MacCready and Duncan and Nick and Ellie. They had had to set up a temporary second table to fit everyone in.

Nora held up a finger.

"Wait, we're not done. There's still dessert!"

Piper's eyes lit up as Nora got up and opened the fridge, while the children giggled and squirmed. She looked at them suspiciously. 

"What's going on with you guys?" She turned to look at Nora, who was still lingering by the fridge with her back to the room, then at Vicky, who had stood and was loitering by the wall trying to look casual and failing miserably. Nora looked over her shoulder at Vicky and nodded, and as Vicky flipped off the light over the dining room table, Nora straightened up and turned, revealing a cake bearing a few small, lit candles.

She took a deep breath, and the others took their cue and started singing the song Nora and her mother and sister had taught them earlier. Nora carried the cake to the table and placed it carefully in front of Piper. Piper looked around at them wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

"Make a wish and blow out the candles," Nora whispered, leaning in to kiss her cheek with a smile as the song ended.

Piper grinned widely and did just that, closing her eyes to make her wish as she remembered Nora doing, and then blowing out the little candles with a single breath. Vicky turned the light back on and rejoined them at the table as Nora presented Piper with a knife.

"Happy birthday, Pipes. I hope it tastes good. We had to make a lot of substitutions."

"I thought you'd forgotten, with the move and all."

Nora grinned smugly and leaned in to kiss her.

"Nope."

"Stop making out and cut the cake!" Nat grumbled.

"Seconded," Vicky chimed in.

"Yeah, get on with it," agreed Cait.

Piper grinned at Nora and rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to the cake.

\+ + +

After dropping off the first load of Ingram's supplies in person, so she could give Madison Li the sample of Shaun's blood, Nora decided to drop the rest off at the Cambridge Police Station, and have them flown over in the troop transport next time it did a run.

She and Piper stopped in one afternoon a few days later to drop off a load of steel scrap with Haylen. 

"Thank you, Knight. I'll make sure this makes it over to the airport." Haylen gave them a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, glancing nervously around the room. 

Nora and Piper glanced at each other, surprised at Haylen's unexpected formality, and then back at Haylen.

"Something wrong?" Nora asked her in a low voice.

"Uh… I have a few more locations for tech retrieval that I think might be promising if you want to have a look?" She grabbed a map, gave them a significant look, and headed down the stairs to the motor pool. Nora and Piper glanced at each other again and followed her. It wasn't until they were in the empty motor pool, with the door closed behind them that Haylen spoke again.

"Maxson wants to see you. They found evidence that Danse is a synth in that holotape you brought back from the Institute. I heard about it from one of the scribes who was working on it with Quinlan. I warned Danse and he left. I don't know where he went. I'm afraid Maxson's going to send you to retrieve or kill him, probably the latter." 

Nora and Piper's eyes widened. Haylen looked at Nora beseechingly.

"I don't care if he's a synth or not, Danse is a good man. It would be wrong to kill him."

Nora put a hand on her arm.

"I agree. I have no intention of killing anyone except in self-defense. Thanks for warning me, Haylen. I'll do my best to keep Danse safe."

Haylen threw herself at Nora and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you."

Nora nodded and started for the door, then hesitated and turned back, looking thoughtful.

"Do you know if they've finished decoding all the data on that holotape?"

Haylen looked at her in surprise.

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

Nora shook her head.

"I have an idea. But I need to think about it a bit more first."

She took Piper's hand and led her back up the stairs and out of the building. Piper waited until they were outside before speaking.

"What are you thinking?"

Nora looked at the solders on guard duty outside and led her further away from them.

"I've been trying to think of a way to get rid of the Brotherhood that didn't involve going to war with them."

"And?"

Nora gazed intently at the ground a few moments before answering.

"They seem pretty freaked out to find out that Danse is a synth, which kinda makes sense, considering their thoughts on synths." Piper nodded and waited for her to continue. "Danse is a pretty high ranking officer... but what would happen if word came out that someone at even higher rank was too? Someone in the leadership, like Kells or Maxson. And..." she held up a finger as a new idea struck her, "what if they were listed as a synth infiltrator, rather than an escaped synth whose memories had been wiped?" She chewed on her lip for a few moments before looking back up at Piper. "Do you think it would be destabilizing enough that they'd go back to the Capital Wasteland to consult with their superiors?

Piper frowned.

"Maybe. What would happen to Maxson, or whoever?"

Nora shook her head.

"I don't know. Maxson, Kells and Quinlan especially, are really fanatical. I don't know if they'd run away, like Danse did, or try to kill themselves, or if one of the other leadership would try to terminate them." She sighed. "I don't know."

Piper shrugged.

I think it's worth keeping in mind. Any ideas on how to get the information to them?"

Nora gazed off into the distance for a few seconds.

"Maybe Liam could help. Or maybe I could bring them a second holotape, claiming to have gained access to the SRB's firewalled terminals or something." She sighed and shook her head. "It'll need a lot more thought and refinement." She glanced back towards the building. "Maybe Haylen would help, especially if they do turn on Danse in light of this information." She looked at Piper again. "In the meantime, I guess I need to head over to the airport. Do you want to come with me?"

Piper grimaced.

"I think I'll pass this time."

Nora quirked her lips in a half smile. 

"Wish I could." She kissed Piper. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re: baking cake - I'm half tempted to start Far Harbor so they can import some rad-chickens and have real eggs!


	16. Blind Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroine faces a difficult decision (hahaha! sorry, couldn't keep a straight face)

There was a tension in the air when Nora and Haylen disembarked the vertibird that had flown them to the Prydwen. The scribes and soldiers they passed wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, and kept glancing suspiciously at their companions. It was obvious that, even if the news of Danse being a synth hadn't been officially announced, the news had gotten out, and paranoia was growing.

While Haylen headed towards the labs to deliver her latest reports, Nora went in search of Elder Maxson. She found him in his quarters, pacing, with a look of furious mania in his eyes. He turned on her as she entered.

"Is there anything you wish you tell me, Knight?" 

Nora blinked at the accusation, then schooled her features and stood to attention, eyes focusing on the top of his scar rather than his eyes and eyebrows rising in a look of mild surprise.

"Sir?"

He waved an angry finger in her face.

"Don't play games with me. Proctor Quinlan completed the decryption a portion of the data you retrieved from the Institute. His findings include a list of synths that went missing or escaped from their underground facility. After careful analysis of the information, we've discovered something… unprecedented. Paladin Danse is a perfect match for one of the synths on that list." 

Nora widened her eyes.

"He must have made a mistake."

"I'm afraid not. The evidence is quite damning. Included in the data was a record of each subject's DNA. We keep the same information on file for all of our soldiers." 

"Well, the data must be faulty or corrupted."

"The findings have been validated by multiple sources. Quinlan wouldn't have brought it to me if he wasn't one hundred percent certain of the results." His lips twisted in distaste. "Paladin Danse's DNA is a perfect match for a synth they called M7-97. To make matters worse, he's gone AWOL. Disappeared without a trace. His sudden absence simply reinforces our conclusion that M7-97 and Paladin Danse are one and the same. An innocent man would not have run."

Nora frowned.

"Sir, with respect, in my experience, it's the frightened who run, not necessarily the guilty."

Maxson waved her away irritably.

"I find it difficult to believe that he never confided in you and then swore you to secrecy." 

"We've never really discussed personal matters on our missions. And, sir, has it occurred to you that he may not have known himself that he was… a synth?" Maxson glowered at her and she hurried to finish. "Among the rumors one hears of the Railroad, they say that they wipe escaped synths' memories so they won't accidentally betray themselves." 

Maxson frowned and hesitated.

"No, it had not." He shrugged uncomfortably. "However, even if that were true, Danse still represents a clear and present danger to the Brotherhood. For a synth, knowing or not, to have made it into the highest levels of Brotherhood hierarchy? It cannot stand." He gave her a hard look. "Our next course of action is clear. Paladin Danse must be found and executed. It is our moral duty and necessary for the morale of the troops. I am assigning you this duty."

Nora just managed to keep her lip from curling in distaste and nodded.

"Yes, sir."

He gave her an approving look.

"Listen, I'm not blind to the fact that Danse was your mentor and this isn't an easy burden to bear. But if we're to remain strong, we can't afford to make exceptions, even if it means executing one of our own. Proctor Quinlan will give you the details you need to find the Paladin. Dismissed."

She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her and leaning against the wall next to it for a few moments to allow herself to catch her breath and bring her heart rate back down to something approaching normal. If she had thought Maxson was fanatical before, that was nothing compared to the light of madness she had just seen in him. She had hoped at one point that she'd be able to offer a moderating voice to the young man, but seeing him turn on Danse, a man he had considered a friend, left her feeling hollow. She was just glad it was she who had been assigned the job of finding Danse. At least now he had a chance to survive this, provided he proved more moderate than Maxson.

Quinlan, when she reached him, didn't have any real leads on where Danse might have gone. Since Danse's team had been in the Commonwealth significantly longer than the rest of the Brotherhood, he had a much deeper knowledge of the area. His suggestion was to make a list of every location he and his team had ever visited and eliminate them one by one.

Nora frowned and shook her head.

"That could take months."

Quinlan raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have an alternate suggestion, Knight?" 

"I know that Scribe Haylen is on the Prydwen at the moment. We traveled here together. Surely, as a member of his team, she would have a better idea of which locations would be viable hiding places for him?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You have worked more closely with the Scribe than I have, of late. I don't like to cast doubt on any member of the Brotherhood, but do you believe she will willingly assist you in this matter? I believe the remaining members of Recon Squad Gladius have become quite close-knit."

Nora did her best impression of the hard-nosed sergeant she had served under before the war.

"She'll assist me, or she'll face the consequences of disobeying a direct order."

Quinlan looked at her with grudging respect.

"Very well. Consult with the Scribe. Should she not be able to offer any suggestions, I will provide you with the list of locations to begin searching."

With a quick salute, Nora left him behind and continued through the maze of laboratories and workshops until she found Haylen.

"Scribe Haylen, I require your assistance in locating Paladin Danse." Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the other scribes and soldiers in the area looking over at them. She saw Haylen's face pale, and she quickly twitched her eyebrows up, hoping to signal to her to play along. The message seemed to get through. Though still looking rattled, Haylen nodded and gestured towards a set of stairs.

"Of course, Knight. If you'd follow me, I can show you a list I've been compiling of possible locations."

Haylen led her down into the belly of the ship, into a deserted storage bay. She looked around quickly to make sure they were alone, before turning to Nora, her face a mask of worry. Nora hurried to reassure her.

"Maxson gave me orders to execute Danse." She put a hand on Haylen's arm. "Orders I intend to disobey, unless Danse forces my hand."

Haylen took a deep breath and nodded, swallowing hard.

"Thank you." She blinked a few times, then looked up, all business. "I have actually been thinking of where he might have gone. If you'll let me see your map, I can mark the locations for you." 

Nora unbuckled her pip boy and handed it over. Haylen continued talking as she worked.

"If you'll follow my advice, I'd start with Listening Post Bravo. Before the Prydwen showed up, Danse had me identify a fallback point if we ever lost the police station."

Nora nodded.

"That was one of the suggestions you gave us when we were looking for Brandis. OK, I'll start there. Thanks, Haylen." She turned to leave, but paused and turned back, putting her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "I'll do everything I can for him."

Haylen nodded and hugged her.

"Be careful. There's no telling what state of mind he's in right now, or if he trusts any of us at all." She managed a wan smile. "Though you have brought up your doubts about the Brotherhood's ideals often enough that, if he'd trust anyone, it should be you."

\+ + +

Since she was on direct orders from Maxson, Nora took advantage of this to commandeer one of the gunships to fly her to Listening Post Bravo. She had them set down a couple of miles away, not wanting the sound of the vertibird to spook Danse.

"Wait here for me," she told the pilot and accompanying soldier. "If I haven't returned by dawn, report back to the Prydwen and let them know I failed."

The pilot looked at her nervously.

"Is it true? What they've been saying? That Paladin Danse is…" she glanced at the soldier, "…a synth?"

Nora looked between them and nodded.

"As far as Proctor Quinlan's been able to determine, yes. I've been assigned to eliminate him, but we all know he's a very capable soldier, and he might overwhelm me."

"Shouldn't we come with you, ma'am?" asked the soldier.

She shook her head.

"I have a better chance of reaching him undetected on my own. I've been there before, and I know the terrain."

They nodded reluctantly, and she turned to leave.

Listening Post Bravo was sunk into the ground. When approaching from behind, it was unnoticeable until you reached the sharp drop-off where the slope down to the entrance had been cut into the surrounding land. This was the approach Nora chose. As she got close to the entrance, she started to hear the whir of laser turrets, and realized Danse had enabled the Listening Post's defenses. Fortunately for her, the two laser turrets had been placed at the top of the bunker's front wall, facing down onto the slope to the entrance. 

By creeping up behind them quietly, she managed to disable them both before they sensed her. That done, she peered over the edge to see if Danse had left any other surprises and saw a protectron patrolling the slope. She attached her suppressor to her rifle and quickly dispatched it, then climbed down and peeked into the entryway. It was empty. 

Unlike on her previous visit to the Listening Post, the power was on, and she was able to call the elevator to head down into the bunker proper. As the elevator reached the bottom and opened, she pressed herself against the side of the car and peeked out.

There was another laser turret on the wall opposite her, and a protectron patrolling the room. She bit back a curse and pulled back as the turret homed in on her and started firing. She waited until it stopped to reload then called out.

"Danse! Danse, I know you're here. It's Nora. Please turn off the defenses. I just want to talk."

She didn't hear a response, but a few minutes later, the whirring of the turret and the clanking of the protectron fell silent. She peeked around the corner again and saw that they'd both been deactivated. With a sigh of relief, she holstered her weapon and stepped out of the elevator.

She found Danse in the next room, looking very small and vulnerable out of his power armor. He seemed half relieved and half resigned as she approached him.

"How did you find me?"

"Haylen. She's worried about you."

She saw the corner of his mouth twitch, but he didn't respond to that.

"I'm not surprised Maxson sent you. He never liked to do the dirty work himself."

Nora rolled her eyes.

"He's barely more than a child. He shouldn't have been put in this position in the first place."

Danse raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond.

"Have you always known that you were a synth?"

He shook his head, looking confused.

"Until Quinlan got that list decoded, I thought I was human. I never expected to find out I was an enemy of the Brotherhood."

Nora snorted, making his eyebrows jump in surprise.

"Bullshit. You're no more an enemy of the Brotherhood than Ingram is."

He frowned and shook his head.

"So what are your orders? Does Maxson even want me alive?"

She bit her lip and frowned. He sighed.

"Of course not. Synths are to be eradicated. I need to be the example, not the exception." He took a deep breath and nodded, squaring his shoulders and looking at her steadily. "I'm ready when you are."

She rolled her eyes.

"If you'd hold off on your martyrdom for a few minutes at least?" He looked at her in surprise again. "Look, Danse. Other than finding out you're a synth, have you ever done anything that has endangered the mission of the Brotherhood of Steel? Have you ever been anything but a model to your fellow soldiers and officers? By the Brotherhood's own code of conduct, have you been anything other than a benefit to mankind?"

With each question, he became more withdrawn and thoughtful, and finally shook his head.

"No."

She put a hand on his arm.

"There's another way, Danse. Give me your holotags. I'll take them back to Maxson and tell him you're dead. You can still be the example and not the exception, except this way, you don't have to die, because of something you have no control over."

He looked down, frowning and shook his head.

"I… I need to think about this."

She nodded and glanced at her pip boy.

"OK, but don't take too long. If I’m not back at the vertibird by dawn, they're going to go back to the Prydwen and tell them you killed me."

He nodded somberly, and walked off to the other side of the room, where he sat with his back to her on a slab of fallen masonry. About half an hour later, he walked back to her, holding out his holotags. She took them with a half smile.

"Of all the people who might find out they're synths, I'm sorry it was you. You don't deserve this."

He nodded, looking down.

"Thank you, Knight… Nora."

"Do you plan to stay here? Haylen…" she hesitated, but he nodded.

"For now. Tell her… I'm thankful."

She nodded.

"I'll check in on you whenever I can. And look, if you need anything, there's a Minutemen settlement less than a mile northwest of here. If they can't help you directly, you can use their radio to contact me."

She turned to leave, then hesitated.

"Hey, I don't suppose I could get you to punch me in the face?"

He blinked in surprise.

"What?"

She shrugged.

"They're all expecting me to have had to fight a rogue synth. And what are the chances I'd have been able to catch you unawares and take you out without a fight?"

He half smiled, then shook his head.

"I don't like this."

"It'll sell the story better if I have a bit of blood or bruising to show for it. C'mon, Danse. I know you've got the skills to give me maximum bruising for minimum real damage."

He sighed.

"Fine. Prepare yourself."

After a few minutes of recovery, Nora and her brand new split lip headed back to the surface and back to the vertibird. When the two soldiers saw her coming, they whooped triumphantly and pulled her into the gunship, clapping her on the back.

Maxson's reaction was interesting. When she first handed him Danse's dog tags, she could have sworn she saw grief in his face, but it almost immediately hardened into satisfaction as he looked back at her.

"Good job, Knight. Now, as you might expect, Danse's execution leaves a gap in our chain of command. That traitor held quite an important position with us. I'm certain that you'll make a fine replacement. Congratulations, Paladin."

Nora's eyes widened in surprise.

"Sir? Aren't you skipping several ranks there? Besides, I… I joined the Brotherhood less than six months ago."

"And you have yet to disappoint. Dismissed."

Dazed, Nora managed to remember to salute before leaving his quarters and going to find out if Haylen was still on the Prydwen, and when she discovered the young scribe had returned to the police station, waited for the next troop transport to take her back there.

Though it was very late when she arrived there, Haylen was still awake, fiddling with a disassembled device, but not seeming to really be paying attention to what she was doing. She jumped up when Nora entered, glanced around and almost ran down to the motor pool. Nora followed her.

"Well?"

"He's fine." Haylen's shoulders slumped in relief. "He's staying there for now."

Haylen brushed away a tear and nodded.

"Thank you, Nora."

"Hey, if you have anymore tech you want to retrieve, I'd be happy to escort you." Haylen looked up in surprise at this apparent non sequitur. Nora smirked. "I'm sure there's lot's of places up north we haven't hit yet."

Haylen broke into a smile as understanding dawned.

"I'll keep that in mind, Knight." She hugged her tightly. "Thank you."


	17. Nat's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our youngest heroine celebrates another year of life.

Nora opened the door to Valentine's Detective Agency, let Piper walk through first and followed, closing the door behind them. Ellie glanced up with a smile.

"Hey, you two. Any news yet on Earl? Did he hit on the wrong person and get chased out of town?"

Piper and Nora looked at each other, then back at Ellie, whose face fell.

"What happened to him?"

"He's… dead," Piper said hesitantly.

Ellie rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I gathered that much from your expressions. But what actually happened to him?"

"He went to Doc Crocker for plastic surgery and it went wrong," Nora told her.

Ellie and Piper looked at her in confusion.

"He was… what? Did he want to look like a synth?"

Now Nora looked confused.

"What?"

Nick spoke up from his seat behind Ellie.

"Pre-war term for facial surgery, Ellie."

Nora's expression cleared.

"Oh. Sorry about that. Yeah, so something went wrong during the surgery and Crocker panicked and tried to hide the body by dismembering it."

Ellie's eyes widened, while Piper went slightly green at the memory and put a hand to her stomach. Nick shook his head.

"What did you do with the Doc? I hope he's cooling his heels in the Piper Suite."

Piper gulped and shook her head.

"He… when we confronted him, he killed himself. Injected himself with an overdose of something."

Nora slipped her hand into Piper's and squeezed it gently. Ellie sighed.

"Well, on the one hand, I don't like to rejoice in someone's death, but on the other hand, he won't be hurting anyone else."

"Thanks for looking into that for me, kids. Sorry it turned out that way."

Nora nodded and Piper smiled wanly.

"Always happy to help you with your overflow, Nicky."

"There was one other reason we dropped by," Nora added.

"More pleasant than the last one, I hope," Nick responded sardonically.

Nora grinned.

"Much. We wanted to invite you over for the day tomorrow."

"It's Nat's birthday," Piper added.

Ellie smiled widely.

"We'd love to."

Nick chuckled.

"Apparently, we'd love to."

Ellie's smile turned smug as the other two women laughed.

\+ + +

To Nat's and Piper's delight, Nora had managed to convince most of the parents of her school friends to let them leave the safety of Diamond City to spend the afternoon in Hangman's Alley. They came over, parents included, with Nora, Cait, MacCready and a couple of Minutemen as escorts.

Piper watched indulgently as Nora and her sister delightedly took charge of the dozen or so children and taught them pre-war party games, such as duck-duck-goose, pin the tail on the brahmin – Piper insisted on that change, since nobody knew what a donkey was anymore – and something called the Hokey Pokey, among others.

The rest of the adults mingled around the edges of the room, snacking and chatting, and watching the children play, and occasionally covering their ears and wincing at a particularly shrill shriek of childish laughter. Piper smiled to see Ellie chatting with MacCready, who was blushing at something she said.

At one point, Nat took the entire group across to the other building to see Ranger's puppies, and it was a good hour before Piper and Nora could convince the children to return upstairs to cut the cake.

Nora, Cait, MacCready and the two Minutemen escorted the group back to Diamond City a little before dark. When Nora and Cait got back to the apartment, they found the rest of the family sprawled exhaustedly across the two sofas.

Curie shifted over slightly to make room for Cait, and Nora leaned down to kiss Nat's head.

"Did you enjoy your birthday?"

Nat grinned and nodded, interrupting herself with a huge yawn. Nora sat down between Donny and Shaun. Donny leaned against her.

"When's my birthday?"

Nora looked down at him, then glanced a Piper.

"You don't know?"

He shook his head.

"Well, that means you get to decide. You could choose the day you came to live with us."

"When's that?"

"July 24th," Piper said.

The little boy nodded seriously.

"I want that one. Can I have a party too, when it's my birthday?"

"Course you can." Nora put an arm around him.

"What about mine?" Shaun asked hesitantly.

Nora blinked.

"I… don't know when they… created you. But… my other Shaun was born on April 9th."

"Can that be my birthday too?"

Nora pulled him towards her and kissed his head.

"Sure, kiddo."

"When's your birthday, Curie?" Piper asked to break the tension.

Curie looked thoughtful for a few moments.

"I suppose I could choose the date on which I was first brought online. But I think I prefer the date of Doctor Collins' final personality update. The date on which I began to be myself. March 2nd 2078."

She turned a bright smile on Cait.

"And yours, my love?"

Cait shrugged uncomfortably.

"Dunno. My parents never mentioned it."

"We could choose a date for you, as the children 'ave done."

Cait shifted and leaned her elbows on her knees.

"Nah, I'm probably too old to start worryin' about it now."

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Cait, but keep in mind that Curie and I are both 200+ years old, and we're still celebrating our birthdays, so your age is no excuse."

That brought a reluctant snort of laughter from Cait

"I'll think about it."

Curie smiled and tugged at Cait's arm until she leaned against her, blushing slightly. Leaving Cait and Curie cuddling on the couch, Piper and Nora ushered the three children to their beds, with a lot less fuss than they usually made.

"So that was a pre-war birthday party?" Piper asked as she got into bed next to Nora.

Nora nodded and snuggled up next to her. Piper put her arms around her and started scratching her back.

"Pretty much. Ooh, maybe for the next one I'll see if I can figure out how to make a piñata."

Piper's scratching slowed.

"I have no idea what that means. Was that even English?"

Nora laughed.

"No, Spanish, actually. It was a Mexican tradition. They were hollow paper figures, and you'd fill the hollow center with candies and then the kids would take turns putting on a blindfold and whacking the thing with a stick until it broke open and spilled the candies for everyone to grab."

Piper blinked.

"Sounds… dangerous."

Nora laughed again.

"Yeah, it could be, especially when you got a really enthusiastic kid." 

"Maybe let's stick to cake and games for now."

Nora grinned and started to answer, but was interrupted as the radio on her pip boy, lying on the bedside table, clicked on. They both turned to stare at it in surprise. 

_"This is an emergency broadcast signal from Vault 88. Authentication codeword IMPISH. Vault 88 emergency classification: unspecified integrity breach warning. Any available Vault-Tec personnel are required to respond under Emergency Protocol VT-76. This signal will repeat. Vault-Tec Pip-Boy signal received. Emergency broadcast ends."_


	18. Vault 88

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and her friends search for Vault 88

Nora lifted her head to look at Piper. 

"Where's Vault 88?"

Piper shook her head.

"Never heard of it. Then again, before I met you, I'd never heard of one-eleven, either, so it's possible there are others still hidden out there." She frowned and looked down at Nora. "You want to go find it, don't you?"

Nora turned onto her side and leaned her head on her hand.

"Yeah?"

Piper rubbed her eyes.

"It just feels like every time you go into a vault, you nearly die."

Nora looked at her in confusion and Piper sighed and started counting on her fingers.

"81, got the mole rat plague; one-fourteen, attacked by mobsters; 95, attacked by gunners." She hesitated. "I won't mention what happened in your own vault. What's this one going to be? Ferals? Super mutants?"

Nora frowned and ran a hand gently through Piper's hair.

"What's going on, Pipes? You're usually the first in line to help people."

Piper paused, sighed and shook her head.

"I'm not sure. Maybe I'm just tired." Nora kissed her on the temple and Piper leaned into it, closing her eyes. She opened them again after a few moments. "Where is this place? Does it say?"

Nora reached behind her and grabbed the pip boy off the nightstand. She scooted back over to Piper's side, lying on her back and, holding the pip boy so they could both see it, flipped through the tabs looking for any new information. 

"Here, look. Coordinates." She entered them into the map and zoomed in so they could see the area better.

"About halfway between Quincy and Jamaica Plain."

Nora made a face and pointed to the marker on the map.

"Isn't this all marshland?"

Piper nodded. Nora put the pip boy back on the little table and turned onto her side again facing Piper.

"Maybe they've started to flood. I should probably check with Nick before traipsing out there. If anyone would have information on it, it's our favorite detective."

"Maybe we could take him with us? Cait and Curie too?" At Nora's questioning look, she shrugged. "I still don't know what's got me so antsy about this, other than being tired, and Vault-tec being the worst kind of comic book mad scientist villains, but I'd feel better if we had backup."

Nora smiled fondly at her and curled up against her again.

"We can ask MacCready too."

\+ + +

Nick had not heard of Vault 88, and was intrigued enough to offer to accompany them before they'd even asked him. When MacCready joined them, he looked at the assembled group and nodded in satisfaction.

"Good idea. You never know what you'll find in these places. There was a vault that opened into Little Lamplight, the cave where I grew up? Turns out Vault-tec was doing FEV experiments in there. That's where all the super mutants in the Capital Wasteland come from."

Leaving the four children in Vicky and Luisa's care, they set out at a brisk pace, reaching Jamaica Plain by mid-afternoon. Not knowing how difficult the entrance to the vault would be to find, they decided to wait until morning before finishing the trek, rather than risk being stuck in possibly hostile territory in the dark.

When they reached the coordinates the next morning, it turned out to be an old stone quarry, which had been taken over by a gang of raiders. Glad that she had followed Piper's advice and brought several friends along with them, Nora sketched out a quick plan to come at the group from two different sides, with MacCready providing cover fire from a nearby overpass, with Curie serving as his spotter.

"I would prefer this to fighting," she had said before following the young sniper onto the overpass.

The battle was brief but brutal. As the shooting started, raiders came boiling out of shacks and tunnels, quite a few of them in drug-induced berserker rages. They did their best to draw the raiders out into the open, to allow MacCready to do his work and help whittle them down.

Curie looked them all over carefully when she and MacCready rejoined the rest of the group. She gasped in horror when she saw Cait absolutely splattered in blood.

"You are injured!" She started pulling at Cait's clothing trying to find the source of the blood, Cait gently trying to fend her off, while MacCready blushed hotly, and Nick cleared his throat, both turning away tactfully. Cait finally managed to catch hold of Curie's hands.

"It's not my blood, love." She shrugged. "Well, most of it. Might have a couple of scratches and bruises."

Curie looked at her carefully, trying to decide whether this was truth or bluster. Piper took Nora's arm and beckoned to Nick and MacCready, who followed gratefully, giving the two women some privacy.

"We still need to find the entrance," Nora said after a few moments, looking around the quarry.

Nick nodded.

"There's more to this place than we could see from outside. Should we split up and go exploring?"

"Sounds good to me. We can pair up again. Meet back here in…" she checked the time on her pip boy, then looked up. "Wait, does anyone else have a clock or a watch?"

MacCready pulled out an old pocket watch, and Nick nodded.

"I've got an internal chronometer."

"OK, good. So, we'll meet back here in half an hour. And be careful, just in case we missed any raiders."

Nick and MacCready nodded, turned and went off together. Piper and Nora returned to Cait and Curie, to let them know the plan before heading off in a different direction. They returned half an hour later, after an unsuccessful search, to find the other four already waiting for them.

"Any luck?" asked Nora.

MacCready nodded.

"Maybe. There's a tunnel down on the bottom level that doesn't match any of the others."

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"It's not cut stone, like the rest of the quarry."

"Also," Nick added, "we could hear voices. We figured it would be safer to go in as a group."

"Alright. Let's go check it out." Nora drew her weapon and checked the clip, before gesturing to Nick and MacCready to lead the way.

MacCready stopped them a short way into the tunnel.

"This is as far as we came last time," he said quietly, turning to the others.

Nora stopped to think.

"OK, Mac, let's you and I scout ahead, see how many raiders we're dealing with." She turned to the others. "We'll be back in a few minutes."

Piper squeezed her arm.

"Be careful," she whispered.

Nora nodded and led the way further down the tunnel. A couple of turns later, the voices Nick had mentioned started to become clearer. A couple of turns after that, the dirt floor of the tunnel was covered with a metal walkway, and the tunnel opened up into a small cave, with the vault door on the far side, and the controls on the near side. There was a raider at the door, trying to break his way in, while two others pounded on the controls. 

A voice could be heard through a PA from inside the vault, ordering the raiders to cease their attempts to break in. Nora and MacCready observed carefully for a few minutes, then turned and went back up the tunnel to rejoin the others. They explained what they'd seen, formed a plan of attack, and returned to the vault entrance. They quickly dealt with the three raiders, MacCready taking out the one at the far end of the cave, while the others dealt with the nearer ones. Piper cocked her head to listen to the woman on the PA.

"Well, at least she doesn't sound like a super mutant or a feral."

After dragging the bodies out of the way, the six of them clustered around the controls. Nora looked them over for damage, then detached the retractable plug from the side of her pip boy and plugged it into the matching hole on the controls, and pressed the button to activate the door. They looked up at the door anxiously until, with a loud groan, it started to move.


	19. Valery Barstow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and her friends enter Vault 88

The voice over the PA hesitated. 

"You have a pip boy? Are you from Vault-tec?" The voice cracked, as though the person on the other side were on the point of tears. "Have you come to rescue me at last?"

They looked at each other, then back towards the opening door. 

"Uh… not from Vault…"

Nora was interrupted as the voice continued.

"The vault is in lockdown. The internal computers hadn't been connected yet when the bombs went off, so I'm unable to lift it myself. There is a terminal in the security office where you should be able to do so."

Nora looked back at the others.

"I guess she can see us, but can't hear us."

Nick was frowning.

"She said 'rescue me'. Do you think she's the only one in there?"

"She also said, 'when the bombs went off'," Piper added.

Cait grimaced.

"I'd've gone mad locked up by meself for two hundred years."

MacCready suddenly raised his rifle and looked through the scope into the vault.

"What is it?" Nick asked.

"Thought I saw something moving." He went still, held his breath, and took a shot. He lowered the rifle to release the spent casing and looked back at them. "Feral. There are probably more."

Piper looked pointedly at Nora, who grinned and shrugged, as MacCready raised his rifle to his shoulder again.

"At least three more."

He got off one more shot, before the creatures came barreling up to the entrance, but he had given the others time to range themselves along the walkway across from the door, where they easily took them down. They stopped to listen for a few minutes, but with the door open, the lockdown alarms were too loud.

Nora led the way across to the door, weapon at the ready. There were two passages ahead of them. Nora indicated the left one. 

"I'll go this way. Piper, Mac, you want to come with me?"

The rest nodded and they split up in search of the security office. At the end of the corridor, they saw a closed door to the left, and another passage to the right. Piper walked up to the closed door and reached for the door button, then hesitated, with her head cocked to the side.

"I think there's another one in here," she said, glancing back at Nora and MacCready.

"OK. Push the button, then book it back over here." She and MacCready knelt at the top of the steps leading to the door, with their weapons ready. Piper took a deep breath, turned to face them, pushed the button and bolted back to them, throwing herself between them and reaching for her own pistol.

When she regained her feet, she saw that the door was still closed.

"Oh."

"Must be part of the lockdown," Nora said. "Let's just hope that wasn't the security office." She stood and faced down the other passage. "Onwards and upwards."

Again they found a locked door, and a passage continuing around the corner, and around that corner, they found the rest of the group.

"There's a terminal in a room back there," Cait told them gesturing behind her.

Nora patted Nick on the shoulder.

"All yours, Nicky. You're a way better hacker than any of the rest of us."

Nick nodded and retraced his steps to the security office, where he booted up the terminal, then laughed sardonically.

"No hacking skills needed, it seems."

He quickly typed in a few commands, and they blinked at each other in the sudden silence. A silence which was soon broken by a distant sound. Nora, Piper and MacCready looked at each other.

"That must be our friend." The others looked at them questioningly and Nora continued. "Feral behind a locked door."

"I don't think it's locked anymore," Cait said, hefting her shotgun, and trudging out of the office, with the others in close pursuit.

As they passed the first locked door, they noticed it had opened, and a ghoul woman wearing a pip boy and a Vault 88 vault suit was peering through the doorway.

"There you are." She frowned. "Wait. You're not Vault-tec." She flinched back as Cait turned towards her, shotgun still at the ready.

"Bit busy right now, lady." She turned and continued down the passageway.

As the rest of the group followed her, their own weapons drawn, a feral ghoul pushed past the woman and launched itself at Curie, who squeaked in alarm, but reacted quickly, raising her laser pistol and shooting it several times before it reached her and tackled her, the ghoul woman shouting in alarm.

"Julian! Julian, stop that! What are you doing?"

Nick and Nora, the two closest to Curie, turned immediately to her aid, but it took several more shots before the creature fell silent and could be pulled off the trembling synth. Cait pushed past them and knelt beside Curie, who clung to her arm.

"I will say it again," she said into Cait's chest, "I so dislike fighting."

"I'm sorry, love. I'm sorry I didn't see it before."

They heard several shots from down the passageway, where MacCready and Piper had remained on guard against the other ghoul they had heard. Nora left Curie with Cait and Nick, and ran down the corridor, to find that they had dealt with it handily. Piper turned to Nora.

"How's Curie?"

"Shaken and scratched up, but otherwise OK."

The three of them made a quick round of the corridor and the previously locked room, which turned out to be the reactor room, to make sure there weren't any other ferals lurking before returning to the rest of the group.

"Any more of these," Nora looked at the ghoul woman and indicated the body of the feral next to Curie, "in there?" She gestured towards the door the woman had come through.

The woman shook her head.

"No. There had been others, but they died defending the vault from a very large lizard that came at us from the tunnels. Julian and I were the last two remaining." She looked down at Julian's body sorrowfully. "I don't know what came over him. He had always been quite docile."

"They're fine around other ghouls, but will attack any other people or animals on sight," Nora told her as she holstered her weapon.

"Ghouls?"

"What we call people who've been affected by the radiation the way you have." She indicated the woman's desiccated skin. "The ones like him," pointing at Julian, "whose minds have also been affected, are referred to as feral ghouls."

"Are you the only person in this vault?" Piper asked her.

The woman nodded.

"Yes. I was to have been the Overseer of Vault 88. My name is Valery Barstow."

Nora introduced herself and her friends.

"I was here giving a tour of the vault near the end of construction when the bombs fell. We were trapped inside when the vault went into lockdown. Many died, and the rest of us… changed within the first few months," she touched her cheek briefly, "and eventually, the rest of them also lost their faculties." She glanced at Nora's pip boy. "If you are not from Vault-tec, why did you come here? Why did you help me?"

Nora shrugged.

"We heard the emergency broadcast and were curious. We wanted to help, if we could, but a newly opened vault might have proved to be a good trading partner for the nearby settlements."

Valery frowned.

"Emergency broadcast? Hmm. It must have been triggered automatically when those… people… started trying to break in. I certainly had no access to those controls, or I would have triggered it long ago." She hesitated. "How long has it been?"

"Over two hundred years," Piper told her.

Valery lifted her pip boy.

"I had assumed my pip boy was malfunctioning." She frowned and looked at her hands, as if for the first time.

"Yeah," Nora confirmed, guessing what she was thinking, "as far as anyone can tell, ghouls don't age."

Valery looked up smiling.

"This is wonderful. I will finally be able to complete my life's work, and will not have to worry about running out of time." She paused for a moment, looking thoughtfully at Nora. "I'd like to share it with you."

Nora blinked and looked at her companions, who appeared as confused as she felt.

"You want to share what, exactly?"

Valery started walking back into the vault, with Nora and her friends following her.

"Doctor Braun tasked me with something vital. A series of prototypes and their related experiments, that could redefine society. But as you can see, things did not go according to plan"

"I'm still not sure what exactly you want from me."

"This vault and its results were to be my life's work, and they still can be. However, I have been isolated for over two hundred years. I am unfamiliar with the way the world above works now. I would need assistance in completing my work."

Nora stared at her disbelievingly.

"Vault-tec destroyed my life. Vault-tec can burn for all I care."

Valery gave her a patronizing smile.

"Oh… I… listen, I understand that a former vault resident could harbor certain feelings. I'll tell you what," she continued condescendingly, "these experiments, I'll let you run them. If you find anything unconscionable, just don't do it. Or change the parameters of the experiment. I assure you these devices can make people's lives better. And when we've finished the experiments, the vault will be yours. You mentioned settlements. Imagine setting one up in here." She gestured around the atrium. "Just give me a chance."

Nora frowned and pinched her lip thoughfully.

"So these experiments can be run ethically?"

Valery rolled her eyes and sighed.

"If you insist on hobbling the prototypes' potential, yes, you could abide by as many ethical standards as you'd like." She said the word 'ethical' as though it were an expletive. "I suggest being more open-minded, but the choice will ultimately be yours."

Piper tugged on Nora's sleeve.

"Blue, what are you thinking?"

Nora turned to find all her friends giving her looks that ranged from concern (Piper and Nick) to wondering whether she was losing her mind (Cait).

"She's not wrong. This would make a great settlement. And if we have full control over these 'experiments' we can make sure no one gets hurt. Right, Curie?"

Curie blinked, nodded, shook her head and sighed.

"Without knowing exactly what the experiments are, I cannot be certain."

Nora nodded.

"OK, good point." She turned back to Valery. "What exactly are these experiments?"

Valery started walking, beckoning them to follow.

"I have the original plans in my office."

They followed her, and spent the next hour or so poring over the plans. Finally, Curie declared that, yes, in each case either the prototype itself, or the parameters of the experiment could be tweaked in such a way that none of the participants would be injured. Nora turned to Valery and held out her hand.

"You've got a deal, Overseer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my first play-through I built a bar in my Vault 88 and named it Bar-stow's, because I figured it would have seriously annoyed the overseer, had she still been there.


	20. Tours and Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and her friends take a tour of Vault 88

Valery led them on a tour of the vault, alternating between pointing out what she considered interesting features, and extolling the virtues of the Dr Braun she had mentioned and whom she seemed to idolize. 

"One of the reasons we chose this cave system as the location for Vault 88 is because it contains an underground lake." She pointed out a window to where they could see a large machine sitting in the middle of a dark lake. "That is a pump and purifier. Barring a change in the water table, it can provide clean water to up to two hundred people for up to five hundred years."

She continued down the next passage, talking now about how Doctor Braun had been the 'genius' – both Piper and Nora found themselves adding mental airquotes to the word – behind all the experiments Vault-tec had set up. She stopped in front of a door, pushed the button to open it, and stepped out into the cave.

"This area was to have been a hydroponics bay, but the bombs fell before construction could begin. As a matter of fact, this cave system is quite large, considerably larger than our plan for the vault."

They followed her out and saw that the cave in front of them was full of construction equipment and semi trailers.

"What's in the trailers?" Nora asked.

"Furniture and supplies for the vault. We helped ourselves to some of it when it became clear we were trapped, but most of it remained packed up. There are also building supplies in other caverns in the system." She sighed and shook her head. "Well, I suppose settlers coming from the outside world won't mind that we don't have a closed environment."

She stepped back through the doorway into the corridor.

"Incidentally, there are two other exits to the cave system, one through a subway station, and one through the basement of an old pharmacy. We tried to reach them, but found there had been rockfalls that blocked the way. The surviving construction crew members went… feral?… before they could attempt to clear them, and none of the rest of us knew how to operate the equipment."

She led them back to the atrium and looked at Nora expectantly.

"Well, shall we begin?"

Nora looked at her dubiously.

"Right now?"

"I have been waiting for this for over two hundred years. The first thing we will need to do is set up the vault's computer network."

Nora blinked and looked back at Nick.

"Uh… I was a lawyer before the war, not IT. I mean, I used computers regularly, but I have no idea how to set up a network."

Nick stepped forward.

"D'you have any schematics on what it was supposed to look like?"

Valery nodded.

"I'll see what I can do," he said to Nora.

Nora took him by the arm and led him back to the others, away from Valery.

"While you're at it, do you think you can, I don't know, encrypt, password protect, whatever, the terminal that we use for the experiments?" she asked in a low voice. "Something to keep her," she cut her eyes in Valery's direction, "from interfering and changing the parameters to something her beloved Doctor Braun would have approved of?"

Nick smirked and nodded.

"That'll be easier than the rest of it." He patted her shoulder. "You've got a devious mind, kid. I like it."

"Once the network has been set up," came Valery's voice from behind them, "the next step will be to recruit some participants for the experiments. Doctor Braun had strict guidelines. I can give you the list of requirements to look over."

Nora turned to her and nodded.

"Sure. Sounds good."

"I will go get a copy of both the network schematics and the participant guidelines."

As she left the atrium, Nora turned back to her friends.

"I also think it would be a good idea for at least a few of us to return to Jamaica Plain so we can report in to Preston. I'd like the Minutemen to take over the quarry, both as a supply of cut stone, and as a settlement. I don't like the idea of a new gang of raiders coming in and camping on the vault's doorstep, if we do manage to get a settlement in here."

Curie raised a hand.

"I will stay here and assist Monsieur Nick."

Nick smiled at her.

"Thanks, kiddo. I can probably use all the help I can get."

"I'm stayin' with Curie," Cait said.

Nora nodded and glanced at Piper and MacCready who both nodded back.

"We'll come with you, Blue."

Valery returned at that moment, carrying a large folded map of the vault and a full folder. She handed both to Nora, who handed the map to Nick, and opened the folder to glance through its contents. She looked up after a few moments.

"Can I take this with me?"

Valery looked alarmed.

"You are leaving?"

"Not all of us. We need to head back to the nearest settlement so we can send a message back to our friends and family, so they won't worry about us. We'll be gone a day or two at most. And in the meantime, Nick and Curie will get started on the computer network."

Valery looked relieved and nodded.

"Yes, you can take that with you."

\+ + +

"So, as far as I can tell, they're looking for two different kinds of 'participants'. Average vault dwellers, who'll be the subjects of the experiments, and a few people to run the experiments. The latter are the ones that have all kinds of requirements, but what it comes down to, really, is that they want people who are gullible and naive, and will run the experiments blindly and without question."

Piper, who had been taking each page from Nora as she finished with them, nodded.

"What are you thinking?"

Nora grinned and waggled her eyebrows.

"I'm thinking we coach a handful of our own settlers or Minutemen and then 'recruit' them."

Piper frowned slightly and opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated.

"What is it, Pipes?"

"Why have you become so fixated on this vault? I mean, I agree that it's a good location for a settlement, but is it really worth all this effort?"

"I… I kinda had a brainstorm when I saw the place. I have an idea of what I want to do with it. I don't know if it's even possible yet, but…" 

"What's your idea?"

"OK." Nora crossed her legs, leaned towards Piper and started explaining. She rambled a bit as new ideas hit her, but it was enough to make Piper's eyes widen.


	21. New Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines begin some experiments, learn some interesting news about their friends, and someone becomes a real boy.

Preston agreed to send a small troop of Minutemen to the Quincy Quarries, via Jamaica Plain, and to put the word out for folks who might be interested in settling there and getting the place up and running again. When the group arrived a day or so later, Nora gave an abbreviated explanation of what was happening in the vault, and asked for volunteers for the experiments. About half a dozen of them expressed interest, and were given a rundown of the sorts of things they'd need to do and say when they arrived at the vault. 

Leaving MacCready behind – since they no longer needed his help as a sniper, he wanted to return to Hangman's Alley and Duncan – they returned to the quarry the next day with the Minutemen, laden with the supplies the group would need to set up defenses. While the Minutemen got to work, Nora and Piper returned to the vault to check on Nick and Curie's progress. 

"It's not as bad as I expected," Nick told them. "The vaults are modular, and there's wiring and plumbing built into each section of wall, floor, and ceiling. All we've had to do is connect the various terminals." He glanced around to make sure Valery wasn't nearby. "And set up the protections you wanted. We've nearly finished."

Nora smiled and patted his arm.

"That's great, Nick. I really appreciate your help on this," she looked over at Curie, "both of you."

"I 'ave also spent some time setting the parameters for each experiment in the computer." Curie added. "We may begin as soon as we 'ave participants."

Nora nodded and glanced around as Nick had done. 

"We've got some folks on the surface ready to come in as soon as we give the signal."

"You've returned." Valery entered the atrium from the Overseer's office.

Nora nodded.

"They tell me the network's pretty much set up."

"Yes. As I mentioned earlier, the next step will be to recruit some people to take part in the experiments."

"What did you have in mind?"

"The beacon that brought you here. It can be repurposed to broadcast a recruitment message."

"OK. I'll get right on that," Nora told her.

Valery nodded in satisfaction and returned to her office. Piper looked at Nora and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you really going to do?"

Nora wrinkled her nose.

"Go up to the surface and tell our people to start trickling in in the next day or two."

Piper nodded, then sighed.

"How long do you think this is going to take? I don't like leaving Nat and the boys for so long."

Nora frowned, but before she could respond, Cait spoke up.

"If ye like, Curie an' I'll stay an' run these pretend experiments so you can go home. Ye can come back in a week or two, or however long it takes an ' deliver the final report."

Nora and Piper looked at Cait in surprise, who blushed and shrugged uncomfortably.

"I still don't understand half the stuff ye do, but I trust ye have a good reason, an' we always come out of these things better off than we went in, so…" she trailed off as Piper and Nora grinned at her. "Oh, shut it."

Curie slipped an arm around Cait's waist and smiled at her before turning to Piper and Nora. 

"It is a good plan, yes?"

Nora nodded.

"It is. Thanks, Cait." She turned to Piper. "So, I guess another day or two, just to get the people in here and get things started." She looked at Nick. "Do you want to head back once you've finished, or do you want to wait for us?"

The synth stuck his hands in the pockets of his trench coat.

"I'll wait. If I travel back with you, maybe I'll be able to get you to tell me what you're really up to."

Nora grinned and raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe."

Valery was not thrilled when Nora announced a few days later that she would be leaving Curie in charge of the experiments. For some reason, Nora being a former vault dweller made her a more suitable candidate in Valery's eyes than any of her companions, but Nora was firm, explaining that she and Piper had three children waiting for them at home, and that the parameters for the experiments had already been set to her satisfaction.

\+ + +

Nat threw herself at her sister as soon as she entered the apartment, followed closely by Donny and Shaun, who mobbed Nora.

"You're back!"

"Hey, kiddo!" Piper kissed the top of Nat's head. "What's new since we've been gone?"

Nat looked up at her wide-eyed.

"Ellie's in love!"

Piper blinked and glanced at Nora, who looked just as surprised.

"Really? Who's she in love with?"

"Duncan's dad!"

"MacCready?" Nora asked incredulously.

"Uh-huh."

"She started walking us to school, 'cause the guards wouldn't let Tia Vicky in to Diamond City with us, and when he got back, they both did it, even though she didn't have to anymore," Shaun piped up.

"They're super gross, too. Nearly as bad as you and Piper."

"Yeah, gross," Donny added.

Nora looked around at the three children with a bemused smile, then glanced at Piper, who shrugged.

"I've kinda seen it coming since Nat's party," she said.

Nora laughed.

"Guess I'm the only oblivious one." She shook her head. "Well, good for them."

"Oh, there's also a message for you, Nora. One of those Brotherhood people left it." Nat dashed off to the living room, grabbed a folded piece of paper from the coffee table and ran back to Nora, who unfolded it and read it. She looked over at Piper.

"It's from Madison. She says the treatment's ready."

"What treatment?"

"Nat, do you have homework to do?" Piper asked her.

Nat huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Don't tell me." She stomped off to her room.

"Donny, would you go wait in your room too, please? We need to talk to Shaun."

Donny nodded, while Shaun looked between Nora and Piper wide-eyed.

"Mom?"

She and Piper led Shaun over to the couch and sat on either side of him.

"Do you remember that I told you you're a synth?" He nodded. "Synths are made so that they won't grow old. But in your case, since they made you to be a little boy, it also meant you couldn't grow up. A friend of mine… do you remember Doctor Li from the Institute?" He nodded again. "Well, Doctor Li has been working on some medicine that would make it so you that you can grow up, like any other kid. Like Donny and Nat." She held up the piece of paper. "That's what this note's about."

"Will it hurt?"

Nora frowned and glanced up at Piper who shrugged helplessly and rubbed Shaun's back soothingly.

"I'm not sure, kiddo. I don't know how it works yet. But we'll be right there with you the whole time, OK?" 

"Are we going to have to go back to the Institute?"

"No. Doctor Li doesn't work for the Institute anymore." He still looked worried, so she pulled him into a hug and kissed the top of his head. "I know it's scary, baby, but it's important."

\+ + +

Nora left for the Cambridge Police Station early the next morning. She took a small load of supplies for Ingram with her, and sent a note to Madison Li along with them, and then sat chatting with Haylen while waiting for her response. Nora went up to the roof of the station when she heard the transport returning, and was slightly surprised to find the woman herself, and not a message arranging a time.

Madison nodded curtly at Nora and glanced around.

"Where is he?"

"At home."

"My note said to bring him here."

Nora sighed and shook her head.

"There is no way in hell I was going to bring him here." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "There are people here who wouldn't hesitate to kill him if anyone so much as hinted at his true nature." Madison frowned, but nodded reluctantly. "The settlement's less than a mile away, just across the river."

"Let's get going then."

The children were playing in the courtyard when they arrived. Shaun paled when he saw Doctor Li. He left the others and walked up to Nora, slipping his hand into hers and holding on tightly.

"Hello, Shaun. Do you remember who I am?"

Shaun nodded and gulped.

"Is it going to hurt?"

She started to shake her head, but Nora put a hand on her arm and raised an eyebrow.

"The truth."

Madison hesitated, then nodded.

"It will hurt a bit, yes. I'm going to have to put a needle here," she took his free hand and showed him where the needle would go. "It'll hurt going in, but not too much, and once it's in, you shouldn't really notice it, if you don't move your hand."

His eyes widened.

"Is it going to stay in there?"

"Only for about half an hour. The medicine has to go in slowly." She looked at Nora. "Shall we get started?"

Nora nodded and squeezed Shaun's hand.

"Come on, kiddo."


	22. A Meeting of the Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Piper make a visit to Sanctuary Hills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter, but it's pretty dialog heavy.

"Don't be alarmed if he develops flu-like symptoms for the next couple of days. Using his own blood as a base for the treatment should lessen the chance, but it is still possible that his body will see it as an invader and fight back." 

Madison finished packing up her materials and stood, ready to leave. Nora nodded and stood to accompany her back to the police station, but the scientist glanced back at the boy and shook her head.

"Stay with him. I can make it back on my own." When Nora opened her mouth to object, Madison smirked and raised an eyebrow. "I made it here from the Commonwealth on my own; I made it from the Institute to the Boston Airport on my own. I'm pretty certain I can make it from here to the police station without incident." 

Nora gave a little laugh and nodded.

"I'd still feel better if you had backup. There should be a Minutemen patrol heading over to Greygarden soon. They'll pass by the police station on their way." 

Madison hesitated, then nodded with a small smile. Leaving Shaun with Piper, Nora walked Madison down to the entrance to Hangman's Alley, introduced her to the leader of the Minutemen patrol, and returned to the apartment. Shaun was lying back on the couch, and Piper was unfolding a blanket to cover him with.

"How're you feeling, kiddo?" Nora asked him.

"Tired."

Piper tucked him in.

"I told him he could take a nap out here." 

Nora nodded and leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. Piper followed her into the kitchen and slipped an arm around her waist.

"I was thinking…" 

Piper raised an eyebrow mischievously.

"Dangerous." 

Nora stuck her tongue out.

"I was thinking, before I was so rudely interrupted," she tapped Piper's nose, "maybe it would be a good idea to bring Codsworth down from Sanctuary. I mean, we've all been doing our part, but there are seven of us now. A little extra help wouldn't go amiss." 

Piper leaned her head on Nora's shoulder and nodded.

"I love our family, and maybe this is just because it's all so new, but it can get overwhelming at times, even having your mom and sister downstairs for backup."

Nora put her arms around Piper.

"Maybe we could head up there once we're sure Shaun's over any reaction to the treatment. It would give me a chance to check in with Sturges too, see how he's doing with decoding the Institute database."

\+ + +

"Do you think it would be possible to append a new chunk of encrypted data to what's on the holotape in such a way that it would appear to have been there all along?"

Sturges frowned.

"What purpose would that serve?"

Nora leaned forward against the table.

"You know that list of runaway synths you showed me? The Brotherhood has decrypted that portion of the holotape too, and it turns out that one of the synths on the list was a high ranking officer in the Brotherhood."

Preston gave a low whistle.

"I can't imagine that went over well with them."

Nora shook her head.

"They ordered him exterminated. Luckily for him, I was the person they assigned to that, so, even though he can never go back to the Brotherhood, at least he's still alive. But," she tapped her finger on the table, "that got me thinking. What if we created another list of synths, this time of infiltrators instead of runaways, and included an even higher ranking officer on that, someone in the leadership. It would destabilize them, and while they're reeling, it might be possible to convince them that they should go back to the Capital Wasteland to confer with their superiors."

Preston looked at her in shock. Sturges laughed and shook his head.

"What I wouldn't give to see that." His expression became serious as he stopped to think over what she'd said. "I think it would depend on how much they've already managed to decrypt, and how big the new data file is. If they've still got a pretty big chunk to go, they might not notice when it gets bigger. Is there anyone on their decryption team you could ask about it?"

Nora shook her head.

"No. Maybe. Although the two people I actually trust in the Brotherhood are both scribes, neither one of them is working on this project. But Haylen did hear about Danse from one of the other scribes, so maybe she could find out. Or..." she paused and glanced at Piper, "maybe I could convince Madison to offer to help them. Since she lived in the Institute for several years, she could claim a certain amount of knowledge of their encryption systems."

Piper made a face.

"But if it turns out that she doesn't actually know anything about encryption, it could jeopardize her position with them."

Nora sighed and grunted. Preston reached out and patted her arm.

"Hey, any idea that could let us get rid of the Brotherhood without resorting to violence is worth pursuing. We just need to work on it and refine it some more."

She nodded and smiled. Sturges raised a finger.

"How were you planning on creating that new chunk of encrypted data?"

"There's a kid in the Institute, Liam. He's the one who's been helping synths escape. He's good with computers."

Sturges nodded.

"Well, if you can get me a copy of it, I can play around with it and figure out the best way to add it to the existing data. In the meantime, see if you can get your friends in the Brotherhood to find out how much progress they've made so far."

"All right. That's something to start with anyway. Thanks, Sturges. Have you uncovered anything else of interest in that data so far?"

He nodded, his face brightening.

"Yeah, actually, I've come across some maps and schematics of the facility, both the newer areas and the old CIT tunnels, including stuff like power conduits, air exchanges, plumbing." He shook his head in awe. "Let me tell you something, that place is huge! I'm still looking through it all, but I'll let you know if I find anything helpful in it."


	23. Joining the Railroad

Webster was in the middle of nowhere. A nothing settlement focused around fishing and mirelurk hunting in Lake Chaubunagungamaug, and he left as quickly as he could. He had plans. Plans he couldn't put into effect in Webster.

The trip took him longer than he'd expected. He wasn't used to walking, much less walking for hours at a time, and even when he got into a good pace, he found himself having to stop or detour to avoid creatures and people that would have killed him on sight, adding even more time to his trek. 

He lost two days to a radstorm. He was well into it before realized it wasn't a normal thunderstorm, and by the time he found shelter in an abandoned house, he was weak and ill. With trembling hands, he managed to dose himself with radaway, and sat huddled in his blanket, waiting for the storm to pass, and the medicine to take effect.

His supplies began to run short. In his hunger and desperation, he tried foraging for food among the wasted plants he was passing, but quickly discovered that was a dangerous game, and he lost another day to recovering from the effects of the bright red berries he had tasted. 

He traded a day's labor for extra food at the next farm he came to and continued on his way, repeating this pattern each time he started to run short. As he got closer to the Commonwealth, he began asking the farmers and settlers for directions to his destination. Most had never heard of it. He was practically on top of it before anyone recognized his description of the place.

He approached from the west, crouching behind a string of silos near the top of a hill and looking down onto the settlement. He was on the point of getting up and making his way around the wood and wire wall to the gate, when he felt something cold against his neck, and froze.

"Let me see your hands."

He raised his hands slowly.

"Good. Now, do you want to tell me why you've been sitting here watching us for the past half hour?"

"I… uh… d-do you have a geiger counter?"

The pressure against his neck eased, and he dared turn his head slightly to look around. The first thing he saw was the barrel of a gun, still pointed at him, though no longer touching him. He followed the line of the arm up until he could see the face of the woman who had confronted him. 

Young. Younger than he'd expected. And no one he recognized. She was scowling at him, and as he watched she shook her head.

"This is above my pay grade. Come with me."

She gestured with the gun, and when he hesitated, prodded him with her free hand.

"Well, come on! Move!"

He stood and stumbled in the direction she'd indicated, his legs and feet all pins and needles after crouching for so long. She led him in to the settlement, to the large barn in the center, and dragged him over to a worried looking man studying some documents at a desk in one corner.

"Carter!"

The worried man flinched and looked up, eyes flicking between him and the woman.

"Found this one scoping the place out from up the hill." Without turning her back to him, she stepped closer to Carter and spoke in a lower voice. He could just make out the words. "He asked if I had a geiger counter."

Carter looked at him in surprise.

"Do you have a geiger counter?" Carter asked him.

"Mine is in the shop," he answered hesitantly, nearly sagging in relief when Carter smiled at him and put a hand on the woman's gun arm, making her lower it. He had never been close enough to actually hear the words spoken, and had had to make a guess based on multiple lip-readings.

"What are you doing here?" Carter asked.

"My safehouse was attacked. I think I was the only survivor."

Carter shook his head sadly.

"Which safehouse?"

The woman put a hand on Carter's arm before he could respond.

"Never mind that. How the hell did you find us? None of us are supposed to know where any of the other safehouses are."

Carter's eyes widened in alarm.

Damn. He hadn't known that. But of course, it made sense. He'd have done the same in their shoes. He needed to come up with something quick.

"I… overheard one of the heavies talking a few weeks ago. It was pretty vague, but I was desperate."

They were both frowning at him and he held his breath. Finally, Carter sighed and shook his head.

"Those HQ people just don't get it sometimes."

He started breathing again. Carter held a hand out to him.

"Welcome to Mercer. As much as we can use the extra help, I'm afraid we'll need to debrief you first." Carter looked him up and down. "You look like you've been through hell. Why don't you get some food and a night's rest and we can get started tomorrow. Julie will show you the way." He indicated the young woman who was still frowning at him.

He bit back a satisfied smile, nodded, and followed Julie out of the barn.


	24. Gunners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hangman's Alley is attacked

Nora sat in the courtyard of Hangman's Alley. She was surrounded by the most recent piles of scrap she and the settlement's scavengers had brought in, and was breaking items down into their component parts. Donny and Duncan were playing vertibirds around her with some fan blades they'd taken off one of her piles. She glanced at them with a smile as they ran past again.

She looked up, eyes wide when the perimeter alarm went off. She jumped to her feet and picked up both boys, one in each arm. As she ran towards their building, she saw her mother and sister come running out. She handed Duncan off to her mother, put Donny down and held his hand out towards her.

"Take them upstairs. I'll send the other kids up to you too."

Luisa nodded and turned back into the building, Donny looking back at Nora wide eyed and frightened. She turned and nearly ran into MacCready.

"Duncan?"

"Upstairs with my mom."

He sagged in relief and turned to run towards the settlement armory. Nora looked around and saw Shaun standing in the middle of the courtyard, looking confused. She ran over to him and took his hand.

"Mom?"

"We're being attacked, Shaun. You need to get inside. Come on. Your Abue's upstairs with your brother and Duncan."

He allowed himself to be led to the building's entrance. Nora gave him a little push on the back to encourage him to head inside and turned, searching for Nat. She saw her standing near Vicky and MacCready, who were handing out weapons and armor to the settlers. She had a small pistol in her hands.

"Natalie!" Nat flinched and looked back at her. Nora reached her and took the gun out of her hands. "Nat, go upstairs with the other kids."

"But I wanna help!"

"You can help by getting the Armstrong and Matthews kids upstairs to my mom." She put an arm around the girl's shoulders and led her to where the remaining settlement children were huddled with their parents. She took the youngest, a toddler, and put him in Nat's arms, ushering the group into the lobby of their building. Nat huffed and rolled her eyes but led the other children upstairs.

Nora returned to the armory to grab her own armor and weapons, hoping Piper wouldn't walk home from the Publick into the middle of an attack.

"Have you heard what it is?" she asked Vicky as they finished strapping on their armor.

"Gunners."

Nora frowned.

"That's… not good. And why?" She tugged on the straps of her leg armor to make sure it wouldn't shift as she moved. "Gunners don't attack at random."

Vicky shrugged and shook her head, tightening the chin strap on an old army helmet. 

"I don't really know anything about them."

The settlers ranged themselves along the walls across the alley's entrances, the better shots standing on the scaffolding, those who weren't behind them, with extra ammo and spare weapons, or preparing medical supplies in case of injuries.

As the attack began, Nora found herself moving from position to position, helping here, sniping there. The gunners, as usual, were well trained and well organized. They were, after all, a mercenary army, not a drug-addled rag tag band like most raider gangs. What surprised her most, beyond the fact that they were attacking a settlement, was the sheer number of them. They just kept coming and from every side.

Cries from the river-side entrance indicated they were making a push in that direction, and she dashed back to lend assistance. Her breath caught in her chest when she saw Nat, again with a small pistol, peeking over the top of the wall and taking pot-shots at the gunners on the other side.

She heard a distinctive hissing noise, and her heart clenched. She put on a frantic burst of speed, leapt up to grab the girl around the waist, and twisted around, just as the wall was struck by a rocket propelled grenade. They both went flying, and everything went dark.

\+ + +

Nora tried to open her eyes, but couldn't quite seem to manage it. She was lying on her stomach on a soft surface, and it hurt to breathe, but she was in less pain than she had expected, given her last memory, which was either good, or very, very bad.

She felt a hand touch her head gently, and soft lips press against her forehead. She struggled again to open her eyes, and saw Piper's worried face.

"Nat?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"She has a broken arm and some scrapes and bruises, but other than that she's fine." She felt Piper's fingers in her hair again. "You took most of the damage." She gave a shaky laugh. "She's also super grounded."

"G'nners?"

"Dead."

Nora grunted in satisfaction.

"Others?"

Piper sighed and took her hand. "Nobody died, but there are several other injuries. Doctor Sun just got here. He gave you something for the pain and stabilized you and went to check on the others."

Nora could feel her eyes slipping closed again, and just before she dropped back into unconsciousness, she felt a kiss just above her ear, and heard Piper's voice.

"Thank you for saving my sister."

She squeezed the hand that was holding hers, and let the darkness take her again.

\+ + +

When she woke again, she was in her own bed. There was a warm body next to her, and when she turned to look, she found Nat looking back at her. As she watched, the girl's lips started to tremble and her face crumpled.

"I thought you were dead," she whimpered, burrowing against Nora, who put her arms around her, wincing as the movement made her back scream with pain.

"Nat! I told you not to wake her up!" Piper stood in the doorway, glaring at her younger sister.

"She didn't, Pipes."

Piper sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than last time I woke up."

Piper leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Last time you woke up you were still full of shrapnel. You hungry?"

Nora nodded.

"OK, I'll go get you some food. And you," she glared at her sister. "You're supposed to be confined to your room."

Nora put a hand on Piper's arm as Nat sniffled.

"Maybe she could be grounded in this room instead?"

Piper sighed shakily and ruffled her sister's hair gently, the gesture belying the anger in her words. She nodded and stood.

"She's mad at me," came Nat's muffled voice as Piper left the room.

"Mmm." Nora agreed. "But she's also scared for you, and sometimes that can look like anger." She took a deep breath. "I'm angry too, because I asked you to go upstairs with my mom and you disobeyed me and put yourself in danger. And I'm scared, because I keep thinking about what could have happened if I hadn't gotten to you in time." She felt tears prickling her eyes and tightened her grip around the girl's shoulders to stop her hands from shaking. "One day, it'll be your responsibility to help protect your home. But it's not that day yet, Nat. For now, it's OK for you to just be a kid, and let us protect you."

The girl was sobbing against her shoulder, as fear, shock, guilt and relief bubbled up in her. Nora rubbed her back soothingly, letting her own tears slide down onto the pillow, and fell asleep again shortly after that, with the little girl still in her arms.

\+ + +

The next time she woke up, Nora feared she was running a fever, but quickly realized that she was hemmed in by hot little bodies. In addition to Piper and Nat, their bed also contained Shaun, Donny and Dogmeat. She shifted slightly, trying to push off the covers, and woke Piper.

"Hey." She leaned across Nat and Donny to kiss her. "You fell asleep before I got back with the food. You still hungry?"

Nora nodded and Piper reached behind her, pulling a cloth off a plate on the bedside table and handing the plate to Nora. It was full of small, bite sized pieces of meat and vegetables. She started eating, picking up the bits of food with her fingers and popping them into her mouth, feeling as though she hadn't eaten in a week, and recognizing this as the particular brand of hunger brought on by stimpak use.

"What's with…" she indicated the children and dog.

"They were upset," Piper said simply.

"Have we figured out why they attacked?" she asked between bites of food, offering Dogmeat a piece of meat when he lifted his head from Shaun's feet and looked at her hopefully.

Piper hesitated and Nora glanced at her.

"What?"

"MacCready did some asking around." She frowned and bit her lip. 

"Well?"

Piper sighed.

"Someone's put a contract out on you."

Nora blinked.

"I… what? Why?"

Piper shook her head.

"All he got was that someone wants 'the vault-dweller' dead."

Nora lowered the plate to her lap, staring down at Nat's tousled head with a stricken look.

"Blue?"

"It's my fault. She nearly died because of me."

"Brahmin shit. This is not on you, Blue."

Nora shook her head.

"I'm putting everyone in danger. I need to go away until I can figure out who did this and why, and…"

Piper reached out a hand, shaking her arm slightly, trying to break her out of her panicked rambling.

"Blue, stop. Blue. Nora!"

Nora looked at her in shock. Piper reached a hand up to cup her face.

"You're not going anywhere. We're a family and we look after each other."

She reached for the plate on Nora's lap and put it back on the bedside table, then leaned across the children again and kissed her gently.

"Go back to sleep. We'll talk more in the morning."


	25. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora takes time to recover from her injuries

Nora sat up carefully, wincing as her back and legs twinged and her head swam. She took a few deep breaths before attempting to rise to her feet, but collapsed back to the bed with a groan. She heard footsteps approaching the bedroom and looked up to see Curie hesitate in the doorway, one hand raised to knock. Her lips thinned and she shook her head when she saw Nora.

"You should not be up yet, Nora. You are much improved, it is true, but the damage was extensive. Though the stimpaks that were applied have helped, your body must do a certain amount of healing on its own."

"I just need to go to the bathroom, Curie."

Curie gave her a sharp look as though gauging the truth of that statement, then nodded and turned to call down the hall. 

"Cait, I require your assistance." She stepped into the room, turning back to the door when Cait joined them. "Nora has need of the facilities. Will you help me?"

Cait blinked at her and Nora half smiled.

"Gotta pee," she clarified.

Cait snorted and walked over to her, lifting one of Nora's arms over her shoulder and helping her to her feet.

"Come on then, old lady. D'ye need me to wipe yer arse while we're at it?"

Curie looked scandalized.

"Cait! Nora is injured. You should not tease her so."

Nora grinned.

"No, it's OK, Curie. I'd rather that than people walking on egg shells around me." She turned her head slightly after a few steps. "When did you get here?"

"Late last night. Piper called us pretty much as soon as she found out what had happened. Didn't trust that Sun feller to look after you and Nat."

Curie tutted.

"Doctor Sun is a competent physician, Cait, but one feels more confident with one's own doctor, I think."

They were halfway back to the bedroom when Piper returned from taking the children to school in Diamond City. She opened her mouth to protest, saw Curie directing the operation and closed it again, hurrying into the bedroom instead to turn down the covers.

She turned to Curie once Nora was settled.

"When do you have to go back to Vault 88?"

Curie waved the question away.

"We will remain here until all my patients are well enough to do without me."

Piper nodded gratefully and squeezed Curie's hand. As Cait and Curie left the room, she took off her red coat, kicked off her boots, and slipped into bed next to Nora, curling up next to her and burying her head against Nora's chest. As Nora wrapped her arms tightly around her, Piper found herself blinking back tears.

"Hey." She felt Nora's hand against the back of her head. "It's OK, Pipes."

She clenched her hand against the fabric of Nora's shirt and choked back a sob, while Nora scratched her scalp and made soothing noises.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong."

"Maybe the shock's only just catching up to you," Nora said, kissing the top of her head softly. "I know I've been in and out of it since yesterday, but I don't think you've really stopped – watching over me and Nat, looking after the boys, helping with the clean up…"

Piper started to pull away.

"I… I should get back to that."

Nora tugged at her gently.

"Stay. Please?"

Piper hesitated for a moment, before settling against her again.

"You know," Nora started, in a sly tone, "they used to say in my time that human touch could help with healing, so really, it would be wrong of you to leave."

Piper gave a small laugh.

"Oh, really?"

She could hear the smile in Nora's voice when she answered.

"Mm-hmm. Makes the body release endorphins, which can have an analgesic effect." Piper lifted her head to look at Nora dubiously. Nora grinned. "Well known fact."

"Uh-huh. We'll just have to ask Curie about that."

"You shall ask Curie about what?" The young synth re-entered the room at that moment, carrying a tray covered in medical supplies. "I 'ave come to change your bandages. What did you wish to ask me?"

Piper sat up and helped Nora do the same, before unbuttoning her shirt and slipping it off her shoulders.

"Blue here was telling me that, apparently, touching someone can help them heal," she explained as she moved to the other side of the bed, giving Curie access to her patient.

"Ah, oui! The effects were not fully known, but skin to skin therapy was used especially with newborn and premature infants."

Nora, lying on her stomach with her head pillowed on her arms, grinned smugly at Piper, who rolled her eyes, biting back a smile.

"You're just lucky you're cute, because that look would get you smacked otherwise."

Nora pulled a hand out from under her head and reached out to take Piper's hand, pulling it towards her and kissing the back of it, before tucking it, still clasped to her own, against her chest. Piper leaned against the headboard next to her and turned to Curie, who was smiling to herself as she peeled off Nora's bandages and started tending her wounds.

"Have you seen John Armstrong yet this morning?"

Curie's face fell and she nodded.

"He is… not well. I fear he will lose the leg."

Nora turned her head, eyes wide, and Curie continued before she could ask.

"He was caught in the same blast. His injuries and yours were the worst."

Nora frowned and turned back towards Piper

"What do people do nowadays when they lose a limb?"

Piper shook her head sadly.

"The scavenging teams'll find him some crutches and a wheelchair, but it's unlikely he'll ever leave the settlement again. And if he weren't living in a settlement, it would probably be a death sentence."

Nora started to raise her head again to turn towards Curie, but the young synth gently but firmly pressed her head back down.

"Please stop fidgeting."

"Sorry. What I was going to ask was, would it be possible to turn a Gen1 or 2 synth leg into a prosthetic for him?"

Curie's hands paused as she stopped to think this over.

"It is a possibility. Synth limbs are fully articulated. The difficulty would be in making the connection to the stump." She smiled, looking the happiest she had since the turn in the conversation. "We will have time to investigate more fully. If he does lose the leg, the wound will need to heal completely before we could consider fitting him with a prosthetic. We should consult with your mother as well. Her background in robotics might be helpful."

Piper had been following this silently. 

"I've never heard the word prosthetic before, but I assume it means a fake leg?"

Nora nodded.

"There was a pretty big industry in prosthetic legs and arms in my time. Accident victims, people born with missing limbs, war vets," her voice dropped, "lots of war vets. But a good prosthetic would allow them to lead a pretty normal life."

Curie finished bandaging Nora's back and patted her gently on the arm. 

"I 'ave finished." She put a small bottle of pills on the bedside table. "Aspirin, if you should need it for the pain."

"Thanks, Curie."

As Curie left the room, Piper slid down until she was lying flat and tugged on the hand Nora was still holding. 

"I believe I have a job to do," she said, raising an eyebrow.

Nora smiled and carefully moved to lay her head on Piper's shoulder. Piper rested one arm gingerly across Nora's shoulders and traced the edge of the bandage along her side with the fingers of the other hand.

"How am I supposed to find out who wants me dead?" Nora asked in a small voice after a few minutes of silence. "Before, I would have gone to the police, but…"

"MacCready's doing some more checking. He went to Goodneighbor after we dropped the kids off in Diamond City. Apparently he still has some contacts in or near the gunners. I also talked to Nick before coming back. He'll help too. Just… no more talk about leaving, OK?"


	26. Checking In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Piper pay a visit to Railroad HQ

Settling in to his role as a Railroad asset had been easier than he'd expected. Julie continued to eye him with suspicion, but he quickly realized that this was her default setting. She was suspicious of every one. Carter, on the other hand, while jumpy and anxious, seemed to take him at face value. After hearing of so many attacks on the Railroad, both on safehouses, and on their old headquarters, he seemed thrilled to find a survivor from at least one of the attacks.

He had a bad time about a week in. Carter had given him a runner assignment, making sure the way was clear between two nearby stops. He had thought he'd just be able to head out for a few hours, eventually reporting back that the way was clear, but he managed to get completely lost, and ended up nearly getting mauled by a pair of bald bears when he tried to take refuge in an old campground. 

He found his way back to the safehouse more or less by accident, dragging himself back in after hours of aimless wandering. In his exhaustion and distress, he lost enough control over himself to admit that he'd gotten lost, gaining him some suspicious looks, but then managed to convince Carter and Julie that his previous assignment had been far enough away that this made sense.

After that day, he found himself working with Julie, shadowing her on her assignments until he could gain enough familiarity with the area to head out alone again. It grated on him, having to be subordinate to someone so much younger than himself, but he gritted his teeth and tried not to let his irritation show. Making enemies in the Railroad at this point wouldn't get him any closer to his final goal. 

He spent his free time tinkering in the corner of the cabin he'd been assigned, making improvements to the weapons and armor he'd been given. Even Julie appeared impressed the first time he managed to kill a feral ghoul with a single shot to the head on one of their assignments. She raised an eyebrow, looking down at his modified laser pistol. 

"Keep that up and you'll end up at HQ, working on Tinker Tom's team."

He hid a satisfied smile. Whatever the method, this was exactly what he was hoping for.

\+ + +

"Blue! Are you listening to me?"

Nora blinked and looked up from her coffee mug, which she'd been staring into absently for the last several minutes.

"Huh?"

Piper rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Where were you?"

Nora frowned. 

"Sorry. I was thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"When we finally get to the point of relaying all the synths out of the Institute, what are we supposed to do with them? We can't send them all to Railroad HQ, or to the safehouses. There's not enough room in HQ, and that would just paint huge targets on the safehouses. So we're going to have to transport them at random, right?"

Piper frowned and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So that's several hundred clueless synths wandering around the wasteland, most of whom have never even been to the surface. If we're lucky, they'll at least be armed."

"They'd better be armed," Piper muttered, "after all the loads of weapons you've been delivering to them."

Nora nodded.

"Right. But even armed, they'll still have huge targets painted on their backs. Those Institute jumpsuits they all wear stand out for miles. I mean, how many people do you know that wear white?"

Piper shrugged.

"Doctor Sun has that coat he wears."

Nora smirked.

"Would you really call that white, though? It's pretty grungy. Institute uniforms are bleached white. You've seen the jumpsuit Shaun was wearing when I first brought him here."

Piper nodded.

"So what are you thinking?"

"I think we need to start putting together little care packages for each synth. Well, not us, but provide Z1 and the other synths with the materials they'll need to make sure each synth has a little survival kit ready to go – a change of clothes, a weapon and some ammo, a bit of food, maybe a couple of stimpaks…" 

"Directions to Bunker Hill?" Piper suggested when Nora paused.

Nora nodded enthusiastically.

"It would probably also be a good idea to talk to Carrington about it. See if he has any other ideas." She looked hopefully at Piper. "Maybe we could go today?"

Piper hesitated.

"I don't know, Blue…" 

"Come on, Pipes, please?" she said plaintively. "It's been a week. Curie said I'm fine. She even went back to Vault 88. I'm going stir crazy here!"

Piper looked at her for a long moment, before sighing and nodding.

"OK. But I'm coming with you."

Nora smiled.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

\+ + +

Carrington was thrilled with the idea of proactively preparing the synths to survive after leaving the Institute, whether they chose to come to the Railroad for help, or to strike out on their own.

"It will make our lives a lot easier as well," he said. "We won't have to scramble to find them after they've been scattered throughout the Commonwealth."

He, Nora and Piper spent a good long while discussing the survival kits and what should go in them, debating, among other things, the merits of having the synths put away portions of their daily food rations, versus bringing in packaged or canned food for them.

As Nora and Piper left Carrington's station, Desdemona approached them with a smile.

"Eighty-six. It's good to see you. I thought you'd like to know – we've had some good news from Mercer. One of the runners from Ticon survived and managed to find his way to them."

Nora's eyes widened. 

"That's great!"

"Wait," Piper broke in with a frown, "I thought your whole deal was that nobody was supposed to know about anything except their own little group?"

"Ah…" Dez nodded uncomfortably. "It would appear that he overheard someone talking about Mercer and, though it was vague, was able to use the information to find the other safehouse." She cleared her throat. "Though I am glad for his sake, we all need to be more careful about what we say and where."

Nora nodded.

"And when you have the time, Eighty-six, I'd like you to head out there and debrief him. Make sure he's settling in well. There's no urgency. Your current assignment obviously takes precedence. I would send Glory, but she's otherwise occupied at the moment."

"Will do, Dez."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, but I wanted to get something up today, and I ran out of time, so I'm posting what I have.


	27. Departures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Piper return to Vault 88 to oversee the end of the experiments (pun intended)

Nora and Piper re-entered Vault 88 several days later. They were met by Cait at the entrance. The redhead was practically bubbling over with humor.

"Overseer's not best pleased with the results so far."

Nora and Piper smirked.

"I mean, I told her up front how I felt about Vault-tec. If she's not pleased, it's her own fault for agreeing to my terms."

"Where's Curie?" Piper asked.

"Last I saw her, she was in the gym, checkin' on the riders."

They headed towards the atrium, and as they stepped out into the large room, Nora and Piper looked around in surprise.

"It's starting to look lived in," Piper said.

Nora nodded.

"Looks so different with all the lights on too."

"Yeh, we found a bunch of light bulbs in one of those big crates." Cait paused for a moment, looking uncomfortable. "Are… are ye goin' to kick these guys out when the experiments are done?"

Nora frowned thoughtfully and shook her head.

"Their choice. We'll have to let them in on the plan – they wouldn't be making an informed decision otherwise. If they choose not to stay, we'll swear them to secrecy. I don't think it would be fair to them to just kick them out after all the help they've given us." Nora grinned brightly at Cait. "Look at you, caring what happens other people!"

Cait blushed and shrugged.

"Curie brought it up first."

"You cared enough to ask, though" Piper chimed in.

Cait stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"I guess."

Nora put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a one armed hug. 

"Nothing to be ashamed of. Come on, let's go find Curie."

Cait nodded, relieved that the conversation was ending, and led the way through the atrium to the gym, where they found Curie bent over a terminal, while several settlers pedaled stationary bikes. She looked up when they entered and smiled widely, leaving the terminal to hug Piper and Nora, pulling back to look Nora over carefully before releasing her.

"No further problems?"

Nora smiled and shook her head.

"I have a good doctor."

Curie flushed and ducked her head with a pleased smile. Her smile faded slightly as she turned back to the terminal.

"I do not understand this."

"What is it?"

Piper and Nora stood behind her, looking over her shoulders, while Cait leaned against the wall next to her.

"Even if we had used the most draconian methods, and even if we had had the machines occupied 24 hours per day, these bicycles provide an insignificant amount of power. In order to provide a worthwhile amount of power, they would have had to install a tremendous number in each vault. To the point where the majority of the vault residents would be assigned to providing power for the vault. Surely these Vault-tec scientists would have realized this?"

Nora shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't think Vault-tec hired people based on their scientific skills. I mean, look at Valery, does she strike you as a real scientist?"

Curie made a face.

"She is a fanatic. She has put this Doctor Braun on a pedestal and will obey his every stricture blindly. This is not the behavior of a good scientist. And yet, my own Doctors Collins and Burrow were very good scientists."

Nora raised an eyebrow and gave her a significant look.

"And yet they were willing to use human beings as unwilling and unwitting test subjects."

Curie's face fell.

"This is true." She sighed. 

Nora patted her on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Curie. I know you considered them your friends. But everything I know about Vault-tec leads me to believe they only hired the kinds of people who would have been kicked out of normal research labs for misconduct or gross incompetence."

Curie nodded. 

"Well, this will all be over in another…" she turned back to the terminal, "thirty-nine hours and twelve minutes. Until then, the room you used the last time you were here is still unoccupied. Perhaps you should have a rest."

Piper bit back a smile and took Nora's arm.

"Come on, you heard the doctor."

\+ + +

Valery Barstow sat at her desk in the Overseer's office, reading through the final reports Curie and Nora had put together, her lip curling progressively higher. Nora waited until she reached the final page.

"So. All the experiments are over. What are your thoughts?"

Valery lifted the stack of papers and tapped them on end to straighten them, before putting them back on her desk.

"Over two hundred years of planning and refining. And now it's done." She looked sharply at Nora. "And it's an unmitigated disaster." She gestured towards Curie. "Your friend here has ruined my life's work."

Nora held up a finger.

"Hold on there. The decisions were all mine. Curie just carried them out. If anyone ruined your life's work, it was me."

Valery glared at her.

"Fine then. This is what you've done." She tapped the pile of papers violently. "Residents wasting time and valuable resources. Pandering to residents' wants and desires." She made a noise of disgust. "Vault 88 was supposed to be magnificent." She rolled her shoulders, as if she felt something crawling up her back. "I cannot stand to be in this cheery purgatory you've concocted."

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure why you're so surprised. I did tell you from the start what I thought of Vault-tec and what my intentions were." Valery glared at her sullenly. "So, what do you intend to do now?"

Valery practically snarled.

"I will honor our agreement. The vault is yours. But I do not intend to stay here. I take my leave of this wreckage you call a vault." She stood and walked to the door of the office, paused, and turned back to Nora. "I hope you get what you deserve… Overseer." 

Nora and Curie watched her walk out of the office. Nora turned to Curie with a half smile.

"I feel like I just got cursed. 'May you live in interesting times… Overseer.'" Her smile widened as Piper burst into the office, followed by Cait.

"Uh… I'm guessing she wasn't too happy with the results? Based on the fact that she just tried to murder me and Cait with a look."

Nora chuckled and shook her head, but before she could respond, a young man poked his head in the door and glanced between Curie and Nora.

"Uh… ma'ams? The Lady Overseer just left the vault. Is that OK?"

Nora shrugged.

"It was her choice, Clem. She didn't like the choices we made in the experiments."

He frowned and stepped into the room.

"I thought they went great. That pho-whatsit machine fixed my eyes real good. Everything used to be all fuzzy before, but now I can see great."

"We picked the tamest and least harmful options for each experiment. That's what annoyed her. Vault-tec was known for being less than ethical."

His eyes had widened as she spoke.

"Well, I'm just glad you and Miss Curie were the ones in charge then."

"Hey, Clem, would you mind calling everyone together for a meeting in the atrium in, say, twenty minutes?"

"Sure thing."

Piper glanced at her as the young man left.

"You're going to tell them right now?"

Nora shrugged.

"No point in putting it off."

Twenty minutes later, the dozen or so residents met Nora and her three companions in the atrium. Nora started off by explaining their reason for running the experiments, and Valery's resulting departure. She continued with her future plans for the vault. Her ideas drew alarmed gasps from some of them, but she held up a hand placatingly and they allowed her to continue. As she finished her explanation she stopped in front of them and put her hands in her pockets.

"You've got some options here. If you'd like to stay in the vault, knowing what I have planned, you're more than welcome to. You've put a lot of work into this place already, and I don't intend to kick out anyone who wants to stay. If you'd rather not stay, you'll be welcome at any other Minutemen settlement you'd like to go to. We have the new settlement in the quarry just outside the vault; the next nearest is Jamaica Plain. But as I said, you're welcome at any of them, and if you'd like to go further away, I'll arrange for a Minutemen escort to get you there safely. The only thing I'd ask is that you keep our plans secret. A lot of lives are on the line. Innocent lives. So, think it over, let us know what you decide. OK?"

She got nods and affirmative murmurs in response, and the group dispersed, with the exception of Clem and a young woman named Stacy, who whispered together for a few moments before turning to Nora.

"We'd like to stay," Clem told her.

The young woman nodded her agreement.

Nora looked at them.

"You didn't think it over very long. Are you sure about this?"

Stacy nodded.

"We like it here. And like you said, there are innocent lives at stake. I think there should be people here who'll be willing to help them out."

Nora smiled at them.

"Good. I'm glad to have you both."

In the end, about half of the group decided to stay on, and the other half moved up to the quarry settlement. After speaking to the last resident to make their decision, Nora looked around the atrium musingly.

"I hope this works."


	28. Clients and Contracts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and her friends make a plan of action after the attack on Hangman's Alley

Ellie looked up from the file she was perusing when she heard the door open, and smiled when she saw Nora and Piper enter. She stood and walked around the desk to hug them both, looking Nora over as she pulled back.

"You look a lot better."

Nora blinked.

"Better?"

"Ellie came by just after the attack, while you were unconscious."

"Oh. I hadn't heard."

Ellie smiled.

"I'm sure you had other things on your minds."

Nora nodded.

"Speaking of which, is Nick around?"

"He just got back, actually, but he stepped out for a few minutes to talk to another client. He should be back soon." She sat back down and gestured them to the two vacant chairs in the small office.

"So…" Nora glanced at Piper and gave Ellie an amused smile.

"So?"

"You and MacCready, huh?"

Ellie's cheeks darkened and she smiled shyly.

"You heard?"

"It was the first thing the kids mentioned when we got back from the vault," Nora answered with a grin.

Ellie's cheeks got even darker and she hid her face in her hands.

"Oh god. Does everyone know?"

Piper bit back a smile and patted her back gently.

"Cait and Curie might not, they were still at the vault. And I don't think anyone's told Nick."

"Told Nick what?" came a dry voice from the doorway.

"How much we appreciate your help with this gunner business," Nora put in quickly.

Nick's yellow eyes dimmed slightly, which Nora recognized as his version of narrowing his eyes, and he glanced suspiciously between the three women, taking in Piper's hand on Ellie's shoulder, and the color in Eliie's cheeks.

"I get the sense you were actually talking about a certain young merc."

Ellie's eyes widened.

"You knew?"

"Course I knew, sweetheart. I'm a detective."

"But you didn't say anything."

"Didn't figure your love life was any of my business. But if you want to know my opinion, I'll just say he's a good kid and you could do a lot worse."

Ellie's cheeks bloomed with color again, but she smiled brightly at the old synth.

"Thanks, Nick."

He nodded brusquely and walked around her desk to lean against one of the filing cabinets, as the door opened again to admit MacCready.

"Sorry. That took longer than I…" he glanced around, noticing that Nick and Ellie weren't alone. "Oh, hey, boss."

Nora looked between him and Nick.

"You've been working together on this?"

Nick nodded.

"His contacts and my know-how? Figured it was a good plan."

"So, what have you found out?"

Nick gestured to MacCready.

"You start."

"The client contacted the group at Mass Pike Interchange."

"Hold on." Nora held up a hand. "Wasn't that where your 'friends' Winlock and Barnes were? I thought we cleared them out of there."

He nodded.

"Apparently they really like that location, because headquarters sent another group out to retake it. Only other thing I was able to learn is that the client didn't pay in caps. He brought a couple of high-end weapons and promised to lead them to a cache where they could get a bunch more on completion." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Based on the description, I'd say those were Institute weapons."

Piper frowned.

"I didn't realize the Institute had weapons caches on the surface."

"Me neither," Nora answered. "But honestly, it doesn't really surprise me. They have contingencies on their contingencies." She turned expectantly to Nick, who straightened up.

"I've been keeping an eye on the group at Mass Pike. I figured they'd have to make contact with the client to let them know the attack had failed."

"And did they?"

He nodded.

"Unfortunately, he wore a mask, so I can't give you a description. He was furious to learn that you'd survived, and was refusing to lead them to the cache. They were furious at the number of casualties his contract had led to and were insisting on repayment. It was pretty iffy there for a while. In the end, they agreed that he wouldn't lead them to the cache, but he would bring them a few more weapons as a further down payment towards completing the job." 

Nora jumped to her feet, agitated. Piper hurried to her and took her arm.

"Remember what we agreed, Blue."

Nora gave her an anguished look, as Nick held up a hand.

"Let me finish. I trailed the client when he left the gunner encampment," he raised an eyebrow, "which means I know where the cache is." Piper opened her mouth, but he held up a finger to stop her. "I continued following him after he left the cache…" he paused significantly, "to Sunshine Tidings Co-op."

There was silence, as Nora dropped back into her seat. Ellie and MacCready glanced at each other, and then at the other three.

"Is that significant?" MacCready asked.

"Sunshine Tidings Co-op is a Railroad safehouse," Piper told him.

Nora rubbed a hand against her forehead.

"Why the hell would the Railroad want me dead?"

"You're still on good terms with them?" Nick asked.

Nora nodded.

"Yeah! Of course! I mean," she rubbed her eyes, "as far as I know. Nobody acted any differently last time I was at headquarters."

"Wait." Piper put a hand on Nora's shoulder. "Remember, just before we left, Dez mentioned they had a new agent at Mercer…"

"A survivor from Ticon." Nora looked up at her. "Do you think he blames me for the attack on Ticon and the deaths of his friends?"

Piper shrugged helplessly.

"Makes more sense than the whole Railroad being out to get you."

"I do have an idea about what to do next," Nick put in. Piper and Nora looked at him expectantly and he continued. "I suggest we attack the group at Mass Pike. While I was observing them, I overheard one of them mention that it was a good thing they hadn't reported the contract to headquarters, because once they did, those losses would be coming out of their hides. That means that, if we take care of this group, there will be no one left who knows about the contract, except the client. And we know where he is, and can take care of him once the gunners are gone. Not to mention, we know where the payment is. We can clear that out and leave him with fewer options."

Nora nodded.

"I like it." She glanced back at MacCready, who nodded.

"I'm ready whenever you are, boss."


	29. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and her friends take action after the attack on Hangman's Alley

"Hey, Preston."

Nora entered the Rosa house in Sanctuary Hills followed closely by Piper. The Minuteman looked over at them in surprise.

"General. Piper. I didn't know you were coming by."

"I have a favor to ask, and I didn't want to talk about it over the radio."

He pulled out a couple of chairs, gestured them towards them, and took a third for himself.

"What's going on?"

"You heard about the attack on Hangman's Alley?" Piper asked.

He nodded.

"Yeah, I got the report. Gunners, wasn't it?"

"What I didn't include in the report was that I was the target of the attack," Nora said.

His eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed as he thought this over.

"Didn't realize you'd gotten into it with them that much."

She shook her head.

"I haven't. Someone put a contract out on me. We don't have a name yet, but Nick trailed him to a Railroad safehouse."

"That… I'm sorry, General, but that doesn't seem likely. Why would the Railroad have turned against you?"

Nora sighed.

"I don't know. It may just be one person with a grudge." She rubbed her forehead tiredly. "I _hope_ it's just one person with a grudge. But we'll deal with him later."

Preston looked somewhat relieved.

"So the favor's not taking out the Railroad?"

Nora gave a half smile and shook her head.

"Nick's intel says that the group of gunners that took the contract hasn't reported it back to headquarters. So, if we can eliminate that group, the attacks will stop, because no one else knows about it. I was hoping for some extra backup. We've already got Nick, Cait, Curie and MacCready on board. I was wondering if you and maybe a couple of other volunteers would want to help us out too."

He nodded grimly.

"After Quincy, I don't think you'll have a shortage of volunteers to go up against the gunners. Including me."

She smiled at him.

"Thanks, Preston."

\+ + +

In addition to Preston, their group also contained a couple of Minutemen and Jun Long, who wouldn't be denied the opportunity for some revenge for the death of his son. Preston assured them that he'd been training with the Minutemen and taking his share of guard duty in the last few months and wouldn't be a liability. Marcy looked as though she were on the point of volunteering to join them as well, but Jun took her aside for a few moments and spoke quietly to her, and she nodded reluctantly to what he said to her. She stepped past him with a gentle touch to his arm and walked up to Nora.

"If he's harmed, I'll kill you," she said, glaring angrily at her.

Nora nodded.

"Understood."

Marcy glared at her for a moment longer, before picking up their adopted daughter and re-entering the house they shared with Mama Murphy, while Jun gave Nora an apologetic smile. Before leaving, Nora made certain everyone's weapons were fully upgraded, including suppressors, since they would want to keep the element of surprise as long as possible, and made sure everyone in the group was fully armored.

During the trek to the Mass Pike Interchange, Nora and MacCready explained to the others what the gunner settlement had looked like the last time they'd been there. 

"The settlement's up on top of an overpass, and is only accessible by one of two elevators they'd installed," MacCready said.

"Last time, they had a small group of guards by the elevator nearest to the settlement proper. The other elevator was unguarded. We can't count on that being the case again, but I think we should still plan on taking out the guys on the ground first, and then heading up to deal with the main group."

The others nodded.

"Now, obviously, we'll need to do a bit of recon when we get there, to see if the new group has changed anything, but as of now, I suggest we split up to take control of both elevators first. Then we can deal with the group up top."

"Long as we get to bash some gunner skulls," Cait said grimly, "we can do it in whatever order ye like."

Jun, of all people, nodded emphatically at Cait's comment.

"It'll take us most of the day today to get close to the place, but there's a place nearby that I know of where we'll be able to stay for the night, the old mayor's bunker."

They stopped for a short lunch break at mid-day, and made it to the shelter about a couple of hours before dusk. Nora, Preston and Piper left the rest of the group making dinner, and walked the rest of the way to the Interchange to do some recon before the light was gone. The others looked up expectantly when they returned.

"There were about half a dozen guards on the ground, and both elevators were being guarded this time," Nora told them.

"It was harder to count bodies up on the overpass, but there's at least another dozen up there. We should plan for at least twice that many, just to be safe," Preston added.

They continued making plans throughout dinner, before making their way to the various bedrooms and spreading their bedrolls on the dusty beds.

Nora unbuckled her pip boy and leaned over to place it on the bedside table, and as she pulled back onto the bed, found herself wrapped in Piper's arms. She reached to the hand against her chest and laced her fingers with Piper's.

"If we don't do this, they'll never stop," she said.

"I know." She felt Piper's breath on her neck as she left out a frustrated sigh. "I just wish it didn't always have to end in violence."

Nora squeezed her hand.

"Me too."

\+ + +

They woke a couple of hours before dawn, had a quick breakfast and made their way to the Interchange. Nora, Piper, Nick, Jun and one of the Minutemen took the elevator nearest the gunner camp, while Cait, Curie, MacCready, Preston and the other Minuteman took the other.

Nora and MacCready both had their rifles with them, and began the process of picking off the guards. As the camps roused, the others moved in closer with their shorter range weapons to assist, and in short order, the guards around both elevators were dead. 

Nora's group gathered on the elevator and she pushed the button to raise them to the overpass. They looked around, weapons ready as they reached the top, but they seemed to have timed things well. The camp was still asleep, apparently trusting the guards below to keep them safe through the night.

They crept through the camp, making a quick head count while they waited for Cait's group to catch up. As they approached one end of the camp, Nick peeled off from the group and slipped into the shadows, returning a few moments later, brandishing a fusion core triumphantly. 

"Power armor," he explained in a whisper.

Piper smirked and Nora patted him on the shoulder.

"Good catch," she mouthed.

Jun tapped her shoulder and pointed towards the other end of the camp, where the rest of the group could just be seen. As they got a little closer, Nora made a few gestures indicating that the gunners were still asleep, and the number they had counted, they then each picked a victim, and got to work. Within a few short minutes, the hapless gunners were all dead, at least half before they'd even woken up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to get this written a couple of days ago, but got distracted playing with the creation kit and figuring out how to get Donny as a settler. 
> 
> Spoiler, [I succeeded.](https://kruthie73.tumblr.com/post/171394797238/two-days-worth-of-fiddling-around-in-the-creation)


	30. Visiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group returns to Sanctuary Hills; Nora and Piper make a visit

They took the time to loot everything useful from the gunner camp, including the suit of power armor Nick had found. Jun had insisted on trying it out, and, after replacing the fusion core Nick had taken, and a few pointers from Nora, had climbed into it and spent a few minutes walking up and down the overpass, grinning widely.

"I don't think I've ever seen him smile before," Piper said in a low voice.

Nora shook her head.

"Me either."

"Mama Murphy did tell me that taking in Amelia had made a big difference for him."

"I'm glad for him. Jun's a good guy."

After splitting up the loot into comfortable loads for each of them, they made their way back to Sanctuary Hills. Jun drew quite a few stares as they walked down the street to the Rosa house, not least from Marcy, who had been stepping out of their house as they made their way up the street, but froze when she saw him. He exited the power armor in the carport of the Rosa house and approached her almost timidly, speaking to her in a low voice that the watchers couldn't hear. What they saw was Marcy's reaction, which was to grab his shirt in both hands and pull him in for a heated kiss, and then drag him back to their house. Piper glanced at Nora, and was amused to see an expression of horrified bemusement on her face. Nora looked back at her and shuddered.

"Now I know how Nat feels when she catches us kissing."

Piper laughed, and the rest of the group giggled and snorted, turning away from the Longs so they wouldn't hear. 

"What do you want to do with all this?" Preston asked her after they'd composed themselves.

Nora shrugged.

"If there's anything anyone particularly wants, help yourselves. Otherwise, send it off to settlements that need it, or sell it."

He nodded and, after MacCready helped himself to some ammo that fit his sniper rifle, Preston and the two Minutemen who had accompanied them started sorting through the pile. Nora led the rest of the group to the house that the original five settlers still left vacant for her and Piper. She pulled a few chairs into the living room so they could all sit, and turned to Nick.

"So, where's this weapons cache? Did you go in? How much stuff do they have in there? Would we be able to clear it out in one trip?"

Nick gave her a sardonic smile and held up a hand.

"Easy there. One question at a time. First question, it's in a cave not too far from the old Beantown Brewery and your Oberland settlement. That actually caused him a bit of trouble, because he had to avoid guard patrols nearby."

Nora's eyes brightened.

"That's good. We won't have to cart the stuff all over the Commonwealth to get rid of it. And it won't matter if we can't clear the place out in a single trip."

Nick nodded.

"And I doubt we could. Based on the number of crates I saw in there, if even half of them are full, it would take us several trips to empty it out."

"All right." Nora looked around at the others. "Do you all want to come along with us? Or would you rather head home?"

Piper didn't respond in words, just slipped a hand into the crook of Nora's arm and leaned closer to her. MacCready nodded.

"I'm with you. By hiring gunners, this bastard's already proven he doesn't care who else dies in his quest to get to you, so even if you weren't my friend, I'd still help you with this."

"Thanks, Mac." She turned to Cait and Curie.

Cait nodded eagerly, but Curie hesitated.

"What is it?"

"I… had hoped to consult with Natasha, the medic here, since she learned her medical skills outside the Commonwealth and might have useful data."

Nora smiled at her.

"It's too late to head out tonight, but if you'd like to spend more than a few hours consulting with her, there's no reason you shouldn't. All we need for this phase is muscle, not firepower."

Curie nodded and stood. 

"I will go find her at once, and let you know in the morning if I require more time."

"Sounds good." She looked around at the others. "Dinner?"

There were eager nods of agreement, and they all headed over to the communal dining room to see what was on offer.

\+ + +

Piper slipped her hand into Nora's as they left the dining room and started across the street towards the house, glancing at Nora in surprise when she tugged gently, leading her in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?"

Nora hesitated for a moment, and when she finally answered, her voice was low and husky.

"There's something I've been meaning to do, and… I could use the company."

Piper stepped closer, slipping her free hand around the inside of Nora's elbow and pressing against her side as they walked.

"You got it."

Nora led them between two of the houses, to a small door in the settlement wall, then through it, and across a small bridge, and up a hill. Piper looked around frowning as they reached the top of the hill, and when Nora led her to a large gear shaped metal platform, her breath caught. Though the paint had chipped and faded, she could still make out "Vault 111" on the center ring of the platform. She looked up at Nora's tight-lipped expression as she put her hands on Piper's upper arms and positioned her in the center of the platform.

"Wait here."

Nora walked over to a nearby trailer, and Piper jumped in surprise as the platform started to move downward. She looked around wildly, on the point of leaping off the platform, when she saw Nora come out of the trailer and jog towards her, jumping down onto the moving platform and joining her in the center. Nora looked her over and, taking in her startled expression, put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing the side of her head.

"Sorry. I should have warned you."

Piper gave a shaky laugh and slipped an arm around Nora's waist.

"Would have been nice, yeah." After about a minute, she glanced at Nora again. "How… how far down does it go?"

"A ways. Though, my perception of time was a bit skewed both other times I've used this elevator." As she finished the sentence, Piper saw a sliver of light appear on one edge of the platform, growing until she could see a vault entrance similar to the ones she was familiar with from vaults 81 and 88. When the elevator finally came to a stop, Nora took her hand again and led her through the entryway and down a corridor, her steps faltering as they came out into a room filled with large, windowed pods.

Piper looked around wide-eyed, noticing that the pod at the far left was open. She glanced again at Nora, who swallowed hard and stepped forward, her grip on Piper's hand tightening slightly. She stopped at the pod across from the open one and, with a trembling hand, pressed some buttons on the console next to it. Piper flinched as the pod started to open, revealing the frozen body of a man in a vault suit, and looked at Nora, whose gaze was held by the pod and its contents.

"Hey, Nate." Her voice was low. "Sorry it's been so long." She took a step closer to the pod. "I found Shaun. But…" She started telling him everything she'd been through since leaving the vault, eventually letting go of Piper's hand and pacing up and down in front of the pod as she spoke.

Piper took a step or two back, trying to balance supporting her with giving her some privacy. Eventually, Nora turned to look at her and held out a hand. Piper stepped closer hesitantly.

"I met someone." Nora intertwined her fingers with Piper's. "This is Piper. You'd have liked her. She's so much like you. Can't stand to see someone hurting if there's the least thing she can do to help them." Piper's face started to burn as Nora continued talking about her. "She's one of the good ones. The brightest light I've met so far out here." Nora turned to look at her with a smile that made Piper's heart pound, and took her breath away. "Life out here is hard, but she makes it easier."

Nora looked back towards the pod, her smile fading. She stepped closer and kissed Nate's frozen cheek.

"I love you, meathead." She took a step to the side, pressed another button on the console, and the pod started to close. Nora watched until it finished before turning to Piper. She looked drained and tired, but though there were tear tracks on her face, she looked calmer and happier than when they'd first entered the vault. Piper took a step towards her, put her arms around her and pulled her close, kissing her temple as Nora buried her face against Piper's neck.

"You sure know how to make a girl feel special," she said lightly after a few moments.

Nora pulled back far enough to see her face and gave her that smile again, making Piper's heart race again.

"I meant every word." She cupped Piper's face and kissed her, tenderly at first, but quickly becoming more heated. Piper melted into her embrace, then suddenly stiffened. Nora pulled back and looked at her in concern.

"Uh… not that I wasn't enjoying that, but…" She glanced around. "Maybe we could continue somewhere that isn’t virtually a mausoleum?"

Nora chuckled and gave her one last, gentle kiss, before leading her back out of the vault.


	31. Clearing a cache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes make their way to the Institute cache.

The group left for Oberland Station the following afternoon, leaving Curie and Cait behind, after Curie discovered she had a lot more to discuss with Natasha the medic, than she had originally expected. They stopped off at Greygarden, spending the night at the Minutemen outpost and guesthouse, before following the train tracks across the river to Oberland the next morning. From there, Nick took the lead, showing them the way to the cave that contained the Institute weapons cache.

"This is it," he said, pausing outside what appeared to be no more than a wide crack in a cliff wall.

Piper eyed the crack dubiously, and Nick patted her arm, seeming to read the doubts in her face.

"It opens up into a wider tunnel a couple of feet in, and then into a good sized cavern after a couple hundred yards."

"OK, let's do this then." Nora lit the lantern they had borrowed from the settlers at Oberland and led the way into the tunnel, turning sideways to get through the first couple of feet, holding out a hand behind her to Piper, who held on tightly.

As they slowly wound their way deeper in, Nora holding the lantern to light the way, Piper felt something give under her foot and heard a click. She looked down and froze, tightening her grip on Nora's hand and nearly whimpering when she felt MacCready bump into her from behind.

"Blue?" Her voice came out in a high pitched squeak.

Nora was already next to her, holding the lantern down to see what Piper was looking at.

"Shit! Don't move, Piper."

"I'm not!" She looked down again in the light of the lantern to get a better look at the edge of the mine she had stepped on and squeezed Nora's hand even harder.

"What's the hold up?" came Nick's voice from behind MacCready.

"Piper stepped on a frag mine," Nora told him.

"Damn! I didn't notice any traps the last time I was in here. He must have laid them recently."

"Mac, lend me your knife, would you?" She turned to Piper. "I need you to let go of my hand, Pipes. I'm going to need both of them for this."

"What are you going to do?" Piper asked her, her voice trembling, forcing herself to unclench the hand that was holding Nora's.

"I'm going to use the knife to press down on the trigger so you'll be able to take your foot off without it going off." She reached past Piper to where MacCready was holding out his combat knife to her hilt first. She took the knife and held out the lantern to him. "You and Nick head back up the tunnel out of blast range. Just watch for more mines."

They both protested, but stopped when she held up a hand. 

"Guys, please. Someone has to get back home to the kids."

MacCready paled at this reminder that Duncan was waiting for him back at Hangman's Alley. Hesitantly, they both nodded and slowly made their way back up the tunnel, holding the lantern low to light their path. Nora turned on the flashlight on her pip boy and turned back to Piper.

"Ready?"

Piper nodded, trying to keep her breathing in check. Nora started to bend down, then stood again and kissed her gently, before kneeling in front of her, unbuckling her pip boy and placing it on the ground next to her, pointing the light towards Piper's feet. She placed one hand on top of Piper's foot, and with the other, carefully slipped the blade of the knife between the mine and the sole of her boot, sliding it slowly along until the tip was visible on the other side of her foot. She put one hand on the hilt and the other on the tip of the blade, and leaned forward, putting her weight evenly along the knife, and took a slow breath.

"OK, Pipes. Step back."

Piper slowly lifted her foot, and with a strangled gasp, fell against the wall of the tunnel, sliding down it to sit on the floor, her eyes on Nora, who was still holding the knife against the mine.

"We need to put some weight on this before I can let go."

Piper nodded and pulled off her pack, turning her head up the tunnel to where the lantern light was just visible around the nearest corner.

"Guys, you can come back now."

They saw the light flicker as Nick and MacCready made their way back to them. Piper opened her pack and started looking through it, eventually pulling out a book. She held it up to Nora, who nodded.

"That'll serve as a platform, but we'll need more. How about some food cans? I know I have some in my pack, but…" She glanced over her shoulder. 

Piper, who had been digging in her pack again, and came up with a can of beans, shook her head.

"Just this one."

"Thank god."

Nick and MacCready had reached them while they talked. Piper looked up at them.

"We need weight." She held up the book and the can. "This is what I have so far."

MacCready pulled off his own pack and looked through it, coming up with a few more cans of food, while Nick knelt next to Piper and put a hand on her shoulder. Piper glanced over at him and smiled tightly, before taking the cans MacCready offered her.

She placed the book on top of the knife, and slowly started stacking the food cans on top of it, looking up at Nora as she finished.

"OK, everyone back up again. Just in case."

Piper hesitated, but Nick put a hand on her elbow.

"Come on, kiddo."

Piper leaned forward, gently wiped a bead of sweat off Nora's forehead before it could slide down into her eye, and kissed her softly, before allowing Nick to put an arm around her and lead her back along the tunnel. Nora waited until they were out of sight, took a couple of deep breaths, closed her eyes and leaned back on her heels, taking her hands off the knife. Her breath escaped in what sounded almost like a sob, and she put a hand over her mouth, backing up to lean against the tunnel wall.

"It worked. You can come back." She reached out a trembling hand for her pip boy and buckled it back on her wrist, as Piper came hurrying back down the tunnel and threw herself down next to her, wrapping her arms tightly around her.

"I'm sorry, Pipes." Nora's voice was choked. "I was leading the way. I should have seen it."

Piper felt her trembling against her and cupped the back of her head comfortingly.

"Shh. No, don't do that. You saved my life."

Nick cleared his throat.

"We'll, uh, go check out the rest of the tunnel. Come join us when you're ready." He put a hand on MacCready's shoulder and pushed him forward, leaving Piper and Nora sitting together. 

Piper scratched Nora's head gently, while Nora rubbed circles on Piper's back, each giving the other comfort until both felt calm enough to finally pull away. Nora stood and offered a hand to Piper to help her up, kissing her hand before letting it go.

"Times like these, I feel like I don't say it often enough." 

Piper looked at her questioningly.

"I love you."

Piper smiled, cupped her face and kissed her fiercely.

"I love you too, Blue," she said when they pulled apart. She took Nora's hand and tugged her down the tunnel. "Let's go find the boys."

They made their way down the tunnel hand in hand, by the light of Nora's pip boy, catching up to Nick and MacCready at the entrance to the cavern. MacCready held up a hand to stop them, then pointed down.

"Trip wire."

Nick stepped over the wire and carefully followed it to a rigged shotgun, which he quickly disarmed. As MacCready moved to step over the wire as well, Nick held up a hand.

"Just let me have a look around, make sure there aren't any more traps."

The three of them waited by the entrance as the synth detective made a careful round of the room, running the light of the lantern both high and low, before turning to them and nodding. They all breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped into the cavern, looking with interest at the crate-filled shelves that packed the place.

"You were right. There's no way we'll be able to empty this place in a single trip."

"Maybe we can get a few settlers to come back with us after we drop off the first load," suggested MacCready.

Nora nodded.

"Good idea. All right. Let's get started." She unhooked a canvas bag from her pack and opened it to reveal a number of folded duffel bags inside. She handed one to each of her friends, and they started filling them.

Even with help from a handful of the settlers at Oberland Station, it took them another two trips to completely empty the stash. Nora hesitated as they left the cave for the last time.

"What?"

Nora glanced at Piper and then at Nick. 

"How stable do you think the walls of that tunnel are?"

The synth frowned, thinking it over.

"Barring an earthquake, they're probably pretty stable. Why? What do you have in mind?"

"Do you think they'd cave in if that mine went off?"

"Possibly. Might take a little more firepower, though."

Nora pulled three grenades from her pack.

"Like this?"

Piper blinked at her.

"Why do you want to blow it up?"

"If he comes back here before we can get to him and finds the stash empty, he'll get suspicious."

Nick nodded and smirked.

"But if he finds a cave in, he'll assume someone triggered one of his traps."

Nora nodded.

"Also, I don't like the idea of leaving a live mine just sitting there this close to a settlement. What if a kid found that cave and decided to go exploring? So, think it'll work?"

"Only one way to find out." He held out a hand for the grenades, and when Nora hesitated, sighed. "Come on, kid. I'm a lot less squishy than the rest of you. And you've all got people waiting for you at home."

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"You don't think Ellie'll be devastated if you get yourself blown up?"

"That's as may be. But Ellie's an adult. Come on, hand 'em over."

Nora sighed and gave him the grenades and Nick disappeared into the tunnel. He reappeared about five minutes later, trailing a piece of string. To answer their questioning looks, he gave the string a sharp tug and they all flinched when the sound of the blast and a burst of air filled with dirt and debris exploded from the entrance a few seconds later. Nick carefully stepped back into the tunnel and returned moments later grinning.

"No more tunnel."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As far as I know, this is total Hollywood BS, but it's a fun trope.


	32. Talking to Dez

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Piper confront Railroad HQ about the attack.

"Where to next? Sunshine Tidings?" Nick asked as they sat around a campfire at Oberland Station.

Nora bit her lip and shook her head thoughtfully.

"I think I need to talk to Dez first. For one thing, I need to make sure this is actually one rogue operative, and not a top down operation, and I'll only know for sure that Dez isn't involved if I can talk to her face to face. For another, taking out a Railroad agent, for whatever reason, without letting her know first is a really good way to actually turn the Railroad against me."

Nick nodded. 

"Good point. But how certain are you that you'll be able tell if Dez is involved or not?"

Nora shrugged.

"I was a lawyer, Nick. We learn to read people, just like cops do." 

"What happens if he comes back to the stash before we can get to him, though?" Piper had been leaning quietly against Nora, listening to their conversation. "I mean, I know we blew up the tunnel to keep him from realizing we cleared his cache, but he might take out his frustrations on the nearest group of people." She gestured around the settlement.

Nora nodded.

"We'll stop off at the Minutemen outpost at Greygarden on our way back to Sanctuary to pick up Cait and Curie and have a few Minutemen assigned here full time until we can get this sorted out."

"Sounds like a plan." Nick glanced between her and Piper and cleared his throat. "I think I'll turn in." He stood and tugged MacCready's arm to pull him to his feet as well. The young man looked at him in surprise.

"Since when do you sleep?"

"Since now. Let's go." He led him towards the settlement's small guesthouse, leaving Piper and Nora alone by the campfire.

"Real subtle, Nicky," Piper murmured into Nora's shoulder. She felt, more than heard, Nora's answering chuckle.

"I'm not complaining, though," she whispered, slipping a hand into Piper's hair and drawing her into a kiss.

\+ + +

Cait was on guard duty as they entered Sanctuary Hills the next day. She met Nora's amused gaze and shrugged defensively.

"I was bored. All that doctor talk was goin' over me head." She turned and gestured to the other settler on guard duty, who nodded, before walking with them into the settlement. "So, how'd it go?"

"Except for Piper nearly getting blown up, not bad," MacCready told her.

Cait raised an eyebrow and looked from him to Piper and Nora. Nora sighed.

"We're about to go report to Preston, since we moved some of the Minutemen around. Come with us so we only have to tell the story once."

Cait nodded. Within a few minutes they were joined by Preston and Curie and made their way to Nora and Piper's house to explain what had happened, and what they were planning to do next.

"We asked the Minutemen we sent to Oberland to also keep a covert watch on the cave entrance and report back if they saw anyone approach it, but not to engage. I don't want anyone else getting hurt, if we can possibly avoid it."

Preston scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Things are pretty quiet here right now. I might head over to Greygarden for a few days, make sure the outpost is doing well." He glanced over at Nora, who smiled and shook her head.

"Thanks, Preston."

\+ + +

They made it back to Hangman's Alley a little after dark and received an enthusiastic welcome from all four children and Dogmeat, and a more restrained welcome from Nora's mother and sister who had been watching over the children with Ellie's help during their absence.

Piper and Nora, warned by Luisa that all three children were still showing signs of anxiety since the attack, found themselves sharing their bed with them again, as each one snuck in to join them over the course of the night.

Not wanting to worry them further, they walked the kids to school before making their way to Railroad Headquarters.

"Eighty-six. Good to see you. Have you made it out to Mercer to debrief the Ticon agent?"

Nora glanced around before answering.

"That's partly what I came to talk to you about. Can we have a word in private?"

Dez gave her a worried look and nodded, leading Nora and Piper to PAM's alcove and asking the assaultron to wait outside for a few minutes.

"What did you find?"

"Someone from Mercer tried to kill me." Nora watched Dez carefully as she spoke and was relieved to see only shock and horror on her face, not guilt.

"Was it the agent from Ticon?"

Nora shook her head.

"I don't know yet. I haven't been out there. I wanted to talk to you first." She filled Dez in on the gunner attack on Hangman's Alley and what she and her friends had discovered since then. 

Dez's face hardened as she listened. 

"What do you plan to do next?"

Nora ran a hand through her hair.

"Confront him."

Dez nodded.

"I would suggest sending Mercer's caretaker a message via dead drop to let him know what's going on, but I'm afraid the agent from Ticon has been picking up some of those duties, so we'd just be warning him." She paused, pinching her lip as she thought. "I'd like to send Deacon with you. We both know he's a compulsive liar, but he's also one of our best agents and I'd trust him with my life."

Nora nodded and glanced back at Piper with relief.

"Thanks, Dez."

Dez's eyes narrowed as she intercepted that look.

"You thought I might be involved in this?"

Nora sighed.

"I had to make sure."

Dez hesitated, then nodded.

"Thank you for coming to talk to me instead of taking a more violent approach."

She stepped to the entrance of the alcove and beckoned to Deacon, who sauntered in wearing his trademark sunglasses and nodded at Nora and Piper. He looked Nora over.

"You're looking a lot better. How's the sprout?"

Nora rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Of course you already knew."

Dez raised an eyebrow.

"You know about the attack. Do you know who caused it?"

Deacon smirked, then paused and shook his head, almost ashamed. Dez nodded to Nora who again explained what they had learned since the attack.

"I want you to go with them to Mercer, watch their backs, help them out."

Deacon nodded, suddenly serious.

"Sure thing, Boss. I'll be glad to help you root out this bad apple. We have enough trouble without fighting each other."


	33. Actions and Consequences

It had been two weeks since he had confronted the gunners on their disastrous attack on Hangman's Alley, and he had yet to hear back from them. Killing Nora wasn't his main objective, but when he'd come across the gunner camp during one of his first solo missions, he had leapt at the opportunity to kill the woman who had ruined his life. 

Though he hadn't expected much from the mercenary group, he had expected still less from civilian settlers, and yet they had somehow managed to not only repel the "trained" – his lip curled in a sneer at that word – mercenaries, but to kill most of them with only minor casualties on their own side. That one of the casualties had been Nora herself gave him no satisfaction, for she had merely been injured, not killed. 

He had had no further word from the gunners since that day, though, which further lowered his estimation of them. It appeared that, in addition to having the bare minimum of training he would have allowed in the greenest of his own trainees, they were also too cowardly to kill a single woman.

He shook his head as he trekked closer to the overpass that housed the gunner camp. The wind was behind him, so it wasn't until he was nearly on top of them, that he caught the smell of rotting flesh, and noticed several corpses in gunner uniforms lying near the elevator up to the overpass. 

He stopped and looked around, then up. Surely, if anyone remained up there, they wouldn't have left their colleagues to rot in the sun. This place was hell, and the people in it little more than savages, but unlike the raiders he had come across, gunners did seem to have that much decency, or at least self preservation.

He opened his pack and pulled out the gas mask he had used when dealing with them before. This time he would not be wearing it to hide his identity, but to protect himself from the stench of the dead bodies. He took the elevator to the top and walked through the camp. He had been right. They were all dead. 

Through his disappointment, he had to remind himself again that killing Nora was not his primary objective. He took the elevator back down and continued his rounds of the dead drops he had been assigned. His primary objective had always been to infiltrate Railroad headquarters, and to do that, he had to impress Carter and HQ sufficiently to be called up. Once he was there, he would be able to destroy the organization's head, leaving the body flailing and leaderless.

\+ + +

Julie was on guard duty when he returned to Sunshine Tidings. He nodded to her, then paused when she took a step towards him.

"Carter wants to see you."

He frowned.

"New mission?"

"He didn't tell me. But some people arrived earlier. I recognized one of them. She's one of the heavies from HQ."

His pulse quickened. HQ had sent someone to talk to him? It was time. His goals were in sight. All he had to do was convince them he'd be more useful at HQ. He nodded to Julie and hurried his steps towards Carter's office in the central barn.

He paused in the doorway. Carter was standing next to his desk, talking to three people with their backs towards him. His gaze passed over the bald man and the woman in combat armor, and stopped on the third figure, a woman wearing a red trench coat and a press hat. He frowned. Even from behind, he recognized her. The annoying reporter from Diamond City. Nora's lover. Which meant… his eyes returned to the other woman just as Carter noticed him standing in the doorway and beckoned him over, the other three turning to look at him as they noticed Carter's gesture.

He saw her eyes widen with shock, hands reaching frantically for a weapon as his self-control shattered and he launched himself at her, a shriek of rage tearing through his throat, hands reaching for her neck to throttle her where she stood, a small corner of his mind suddenly remembering his own weapon and drawing it as he crashed into her and bore her to the ground.

He felt his finger press the trigger as they fell, and she lay still beneath him, the reporter letting out a cry of distress. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her draw her weapon, but before she could finish, or he could raise his own, he felt a sharp pain against the back of his head and everything went dark.


	34. Questioning

Piper could hear Carter babbling hysterically behind her, and knew Deacon was tying up the unconscious man, but her attention was entirely on Nora. With trembling fingers she pressed the pulse point on her neck, muffling a sob of relief with her free hand when she felt Nora's heartbeat under her fingertips. 

She looked up, glancing between Deacon and Carter. Carter was still hysterical, so she dismissed him and fixed her gaze on Deacon.

"Get Curie." 

The agent nodded, gave the bindings he had just finished tying a final tug and got to his feet, darting out of the barn to find Curie, who, taking Cait along with her, had gone to meet the runaway synths currently at the safehouse.

She turned her attention back to Nora. There was a burn mark on the left side of Nora's armor chest piece. She unbuckled the armor and tossed it aside, as Curie, Cait and Deacon ran into the barn. Piper moved aside to let Curie examine Nora.

"What happened?" 

"He attacked her." Piper gestured towards the bound man, who still lay unconscious next to them.

"Monsieur Deacon did tell me that much. Specifics, please," Curie answered while tugging up Nora's shirt to see the wound from the laser pistol.

"He just came at her, no warning. Pulled out his gun just before he hit her and they both went down." 

Curie ran gentle fingers over the edges of the wound.

"Third degree burn. It appears the armor took most of the damage. This is relatively minor, considering the damage it might have caused," Curie muttered softly, as she continued her examination. After a few moments, she turned to Piper. "I believe she has a concussion. She should regain consciousness…" She paused as Nora stirred and moaned. "Please stay still, Nora. You have been injured." 

Nora opened her eyes and winced, glancing from Curie to Piper, and then behind Piper to the man who had attacked her. Her breathing quickened and she tried to sit up, but Piper and Curie each put a hand on her shoulders to keep her down.

"Just one moment, Nora. I need to apply a stimpak to the burn on your side." Curie reached into her medical bag, pulled out a stimpak and lifted Nora's shirt again to reveal the angry round burn. She injected it as close to the edge of the wound as she could and lowered her shirt again. "It will also help with your concussion."

She nodded to Piper, who released her grip on Nora's shoulder and helped her sit up. Nora's gaze was fixed on the man behind Piper. Piper glanced at him.

"Do you know who he is?"

Nora nodded.

"Justin Ayo."

Piper blinked in surprise.

"Justin Ayo, as in the guy you got kicked out of the Institute?"

"That's the one."

This silenced Carter's babbling and he stared at her wide-eyed, while Deacon gave her a hard look.

"An Institute infiltrator?"

Nora made a face.

"Well, he was banished from the Institute, so he's not sending them any information. But, yeah, he was definitely up to no good here. Back at the Institute, he was the guy in charge of the Coursers and of recapturing runaways."

Deacon's eyes hardened as he turned his gaze on the unconscious Justin.

"But he was so helpful…" Carter began, then hesitated and turned frightened eyes on her. "He did seem awfully keen on getting promoted to HQ."

Nora nodded and sighed, running a hand gingerly across the back of her head and wincing as she came across a large bump. She held a hand out to Piper.

"Help me up?" 

Piper stood and took her hand. As Nora got to her feet, they both turned towards Justin as he groaned and shifted, trying to sit up and discovering the bindings on his wrists. He looked around and when his eyes found Nora, he growled, and threw himself towards her, trying to get to his feet without the use of his hands.

Nora stood her ground, throwing a hand across Piper's body and trying to push her behind herself, as Deacon reached for one of Justin's arms and dragged him into one of the chairs around Carter's desk.

"You!" Justin snarled.

"How did you find this place, Justin?"

He laughed.

"The Institute has eyes everywhere."

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"So, you were following me with those synth bird things, is that it?"

"I told Father not to trust you! And I was right. You're part of the Railroad." He spat the word out as though it tasted bitter.

Nora frowned.

"You didn't know I was part of the Railroad until you saw me a few minutes ago, did you?" She watched his eyes dart, and nodded. "So it's not me the synth birds have been following." She stopped to think for a few moments. "Bunker Hill. You've known that was one of the stops for a while, but other than the rescue mission Shaun sent me on, the Institute hasn't attacked it, even though they've destroyed every other safehouse they knew about." She glanced at Deacon. "I think we need to teach the folks at Bunker Hill how to make blackbird pie."

Deacon nodded grimly.

"What about this place?"

She looked musingly at Justin again.

"I don't think the rest of the Institute knows about it. He wouldn't have risked his own neck like that. But I'd suggest doubling the guard, just to be safe."

"What about him?" Carter asked in a frightened voice.

Nora sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"We can't let him go."

Justin straightened in his seat.

"That's right. Kill me. That's what you're planning for all of us, so go ahead."

Nora frowned and shook her head.

"You don't know me at all. I want…" she hesitated and glanced at Piper, then over at Cait and Curie, who'd been silently watching this all unfold. "I want my family to be safe. I want the Institute to stop killing and terrorizing the Commonwealth." She could see in his eyes that he didn't believe her and stopped with a sigh, turning back to Carter. "The Castle."

"The… Castle?"

"Minutemen headquarters. There's a brig in the tunnels under the fort. And I trust the people there to keep him out of trouble. I'll send for a patrol to pick him up."

Carter's eyes widened.

"You're bringing outsiders in?"

Nora nodded.

"As far as they know, this is just a settlement that's chosen not to ally with the Minutemen. Don't do or say anything to make them believe otherwise and you'll be fine."

Carter gulped and nodded. Nora glanced at Piper again.

"We'll stick around until they arrive." It sounded almost like a question, and Piper nodded. "Help you keep an eye on him."


	35. R&R

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines take a much needed rest before getting back to work.

Piper groaned softly as she drifted slowly to consciousness. They had made it back to Hangman's Alley well past midnight, and combined with the previous week's events, Piper could feel her exhaustion as a bone deep ache.

Nora mumbled unintelligibly in her sleep and reached blindly across the bed until she found Piper, curled up against her and hummed contentedly. Piper's heart clenched with a mixture of love and an echo of the fear she had felt as she watched Nora fall under Justin Ayo's attack. She pressed herself against Nora, dropped a tender kiss against the nearest patch of bare skin, and feeling Nora's arms tighten around her, allowed herself to be lulled back to sleep.

When she woke again, it was to the sensation of Nora's fingers running gently over her back, and the press of Nora's lips on her forehead as Piper shifted slightly.

"Morning. Well, afternoon, really."

Piper cuddled closer and yawned.

"What time is it?"

"Past noon. I got up long enough to take the kids to school and then came back and napped until just a little while ago."

Piper hummed drowsily in response, Nora's gentle caresses on her back nearly putting her to sleep again. She roused herself after a few minutes.

"What's the next step? Now that Justin's taken care of, I mean."

Nora sighed.

"Try to get rid of the Brotherhood, I guess."

Piper pushed herself up on one elbow to look at her in concern.

"Blue?"

Nora rubbed her free hand over her face and through her hair.

"I'm tired, Pipes. I just… I'm tired. Everything is non-stop. One crisis after another and I'm just so tired."

Piper tugged on Nora's shoulder and pulled her into her arms, pillowing Nora's head on her chest and running her fingers through her hair.

"Let's take a break. Just a day or two – you, me, the kids, here at home. Maybe you can teach Nat and the boys some more carpentry. I can catch up on my writing. We can get some rest."

Nora sighed deeply.

"Sounds like heaven. But…" 

Piper kissed the top of her head.

"No buts. The Brotherhood's not doing anything until they finish that giant robot of theirs. A couple days' break won't make any difference in the grand scheme of things, but it _will_ help us keep our sanity."

\+ + +

"There you are. What's going on up here?"

"Dad, look, we're building!"

Duncan rushed over to MacCready, who had just crested the roof line above Nora and Piper's apartment, took his hand and tugged him over to the other end of the roof.

"Yeah, you sure are. What'cha making?"

Nora wiped sweat off her forehead and grinned at him and Duncan.

"Just fixing up the shooting range a bit. It was kind of a mess before."

MacCready looked at their work critically, and nodded approvingly.

"Looks good."

Nat pointed behind him, to a higher section of roof.

"And then we're going to build a shed up there to store the practice weapons."

Nora wrinkled her nose.

"Getting tired of carting them all up here every time."

MacCready grinned and tousled Duncan's hair.

"Looks like you're having fun."

The little boy nodded enthusiastically, and rejoined Shaun and Donny, who were holding up a wooden wall section while Nora screwed it into place and Nat held the screws for her. Nora looked up at him again after a moment.

"Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." She glanced at the children. "Hey, guys, break time. Why don't you go downstairs and get yourselves a Nuka Cola."

She watched them clatter down the stairs chattering excitedly before turning back to MacCready, who was giving her a nervous look. She laughed softly.

"Relax, Mac. It's nothing bad. Just… personal, I guess. And my three are busybodies."

MacCready blinked.

"Uh… OK. What is it?"

Nora rubbed the back of her neck, and now she was the one who appeared nervous.

"Look, I don't mean to interfere in your personal business or anything. It's your own business, after all." She took a deep breath. "OK, look. You and Ellie seem to be getting serious, yes?"

He frowned slightly and nodded.

"Here's the bit where it's really none of my business, but I'm going to ask anyway." She smiled ruefully at him. "If it comes to the point where you want to move in together, what are you going to do? I mean, Ellie doesn't have her own place. She lives in the back of the office. You can't move in with her. And… even though you've got room for her in your apartment here, Ellie's a city girl. I can't really see her leaving Diamond City."

MacCready's frown deepened.

"Look, boss. I'm not sure what you're getting at. Ellie and I know there are difficulties, but we're willing to work them out."

Nora held up a hand.

"I was getting to it. Home Plate."

Now MacCready looked confused.

"Home Plate?"

"It's just been standing empty since Piper and I moved here. If you and Ellie want it, it's yours."

MacCready's eyes widened.

"I… I don't know what to say. I mean, I'd have to talk to Ellie, and well, work out payments, but…" he let out a breathy laugh. "Thanks."

\+ + +

Two days later, feeling much refreshed, Nora packed up a batch of supplies for Ingram and made her way to the Cambridge Police Station, and from there, took the regular vertibird transport to the Boston Airport. After dropping off the supplies with Ingram and having a quiet word with Madison Li about Shaun's progress, she took the next transport up to the Prydwen.

Maxson was at his usual lookout point above the bridge, she noted with relief, as she quietly slipped past him and took the ladder up into the belly of the vessel. She stood in the doorway of Danse's former quarters, which had been assigned to her on her promotion to Paladin, and waited for a moment of quiet before slipping across the space and through the door of Maxson's quarters. 

After several minutes of quietly rummaging around, she gave a grunt of satisfaction, and scooped something out of the trashcan onto a piece of paper. She then made her way to the dresser and did the same, folding the paper and slipping it into her pocket.

She opened her pip boy, flipped to the relay tab and transported into the Institute. She rode the elevator down into the Atrium, then made her way up to the Binet apartment, and looked through the door.

"Oh, hey, Eve. I was looking for Liam. Do you know where he is?"

The synth woman glanced up from her work and smiled shyly.

"He should be in the Robotics lab, helping his father."

Nora nodded and smiled.

"Thanks."

She started back down the stairs, and ran into Liam coming up them.

"Hey, I was looking for you. Can we talk? I have a programming project I'm working on and I could use some expert advice."

The young man nodded and followed her to her quarters, where she locked the door behind them and gestured him to a seat.

"Have you heard of the Brotherhood of Steel?"

Liam nodded.

"I've heard talk about them, yes. They think synths are abominations."

"Among others, yes. I'm trying to work out a way to get rid of them without actually having to fight them." She paused and pulled a couple of holotapes out of her pocket. "Back when I first came here, I was given this program," she held up one of the tapes, "to scrape and copy the Institute's systems."

Liam's eyes widened.

"It was written by Tinker Tom, the guy who broke the encryption on your cipher."

The boy nodded. Nora held up the other tape.

"This is a copy of what I got. The Railroad asked me to join the Brotherhood as their spy on the inside, and one of the things the Brotherhood wanted, was a copy of the Institute's systems."

"You… you gave it to them?"

"I did. It allowed me to gain their trust. They've been working on decrypting it ever since. One chunk that they did manage to decrypt was a list of runaway synths. They discovered that one of their Paladins – that's a pretty high up officer in their ranks – was on this list. It… let's just say, they were not pleased."

"Which synth? What did they do to him?"

Nora stopped to think. 

"Um… M7-97, if I remember rightly."

Liam smiled.

"I remember him. He was in the courser training program for a while, but failed out of it and got wiped." His smile faded. "He always seemed sadder after that. Like he realized he'd lost part of himself." He looked up. "So what happened to him?"

"They wanted him dead." The boy's eyes widened. "But they sent me to kill him." She raised an eyebrow and smiled wryly. "I gave them his holotags. They think he's dead, but he's alive and well, hiding out."

Liam nodded in relief then frowned in confusion.

"What does this have to do with getting rid of the Brotherhood?"

"Well, I was thinking… if finding out that one of their Paladins was a runaway synth sent them into such a tizzy, how much worse would it be if they found out that their leader, Elder Maxson, was also a synth, and not just a runaway, but an infiltrator?"

Liam gave a bark of laughter.

"I don't imagine it would go well."

"It should leave them destabilized and reeling. And, after I quote-unquote killed Danse, they promoted me into his position. I'm now one of the highest ranked officers in the Brotherhood of Steel in the Commonwealth."

Liam gave a low whistle and Nora shrugged self-deprecatingly.

"I'm pretty good at what I do."

"I guess so!"

"Anyway, this puts me in a good position to nudge them in the direction I'd like them to take, while they're vulnerable. To convince them that they should return to the Capital Wasteland."

Liam nodded thoughtfully.

"So, where do I come in?"

Nora held up the two holotapes again.

"Could you create some fake data to add to this, matching the original's encryption, that includes Maxson's name on a list of so-called synth infiltrators? I'd also need a way to append it to the original, if possible."

Liam rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming with excitement and nodded enthusiastically. Nora grinned at him and pulled a piece of folded paper out of her pocket, which she held out to him.

"What's this?"

"The other list included DNA information about the runaway synths. That's what convinced them about Danse. So I snuck into Maxson's quarters and got you some DNA samples. Some hair, and I found a few nail clippings too. Will that work?"

Liam nodded and took the folded paper from her.

"I should be able to work with that."

"Thanks, Liam. I knew I could count on you." 

She handed him the two holotapes, and he practically ran out of the room to get started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An excuse for some settlement building! (the [rooftop space](https://kruthie73.tumblr.com/post/173005817558/built-a-deck-with-a-fire-pit-and-a-shooting-range)


	36. Pinned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroine helps in a recruitment operation

When Nora left her quarters a few minutes later, she was accosted by a second gen synth outside her door.

"Father has requested to see you." 

"Is he in his quarters?"

The synth nodded and she thanked it, heading for the stairwell. As she reached the staircase, she hesitated, glancing up, then down, before coming to a decision, and heading up and towards Shaun's quarters. She found him, once more, in his pod-like bed. He appeared to have lost weight, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Dr. Volkert was standing next to him seeming to have just asked a question and Shaun gave an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, I'm taking all my little pills." He glanced over the doctor's shoulder and saw Nora entering. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" 

Doctor Volkert turned and saw Nora.

"Take good care of yourself, and get some rest."

Shaun nodded and pushed himself up to a sitting position as Nora approached. 

"Mother. It is good to see you again."

"Shaun. I was told you wanted to speak to me."

"Yes." He hesitated for a moment. "How is the child?"

Nora blinked.

"He's fine. Thriving, in fact." She gave him a long look. "This is what you wanted to talk about? Young Shaun?"

"Ah… no. I was merely curious. I require your assistance with a certain matter." He looked down at his hands, folded on his lap, before looking back up at her. "This situation, I'm afraid, is something of your creation, however unintentional."

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that? What's happened?"

"We recently sent a team to… invite someone from the Commonwealth to join the Institute. Apparently, there was some miscommunication, and this individual called for help, which arrived in short order, in the form of your Minutemen." He frowned. "Apparently, there is a large contingent of them just a few hundred yards away, at your Graygarden settlement."

Nora gave a sardonic laugh.

"You've spent decades terrifying the people of the Commonwealth by killing and kidnapping them at will. And somehow you're surprised by this reaction? And also… it's my fault." She shook her head and sighed. "One thing you haven't learned, despite all your advanced technology, is how to own up to your own mistakes. Go on, then, what do you want me to do to fix this problem you've created?"

Shaun's eyes had widened when she started speaking. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he managed to continue.

"My understanding is that no shots have been fired. I would like it to stay that way. I need you to go there, and speak to your Minutemen gathered outside. Insist that they stand down at once. Dr. Thompson is on site, and he will be your primary contact. I know you can resolve this situation, but it is of paramount importance that this special individual be brought to the Institute immediately."

"I'll do what I can to resolve this peacefully, but I have no intention of betraying the Minutemen."

He raised a conciliatory hand.

"I'm not asking you to…" he started in a condescending tone, but she spoke over him before he could continue.

"Why all this effort? What's so special about this person?"

"Mr. Wallace? Despite a lack of formal training, our surveillance has shown he has an incredible intellect. We hope he will be able to help us with some of the issues we're having with Phase Three."

She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Interesting how according to you there's no future in the Commonwealth, and yet, you're having to recruit a wastelander to help you out." She shook her head. "I'll go clean up your mess." She took a few steps away from him, then turned and walked back. "Speaking of your messes, you might be interested to learn that Justin Ayo tried to have me killed."

He gasped.

"That's… are you certain? The Commonwealth is a violent place…"

"And Justin fit right in. He hired a group of mercenaries to attack my home. My Minutemen currently have him under arrest."

Shaun looked shocked.

"But… we relayed him to the furthest point we could reach. He should not have been able to return."

"He's obviously stronger and angrier than you give him credit for. The Institute has made it a habit to use the Commonwealth as their dumping ground for people and projects they no longer wish to deal with." At his questioning glance, she continued. "I did some exploring. Found the old FEV lab. It's pretty clear where all the super mutants in the Commonwealth came from. If I do take over this place, there will be changes, I warn you of that."

She turned, and without waiting for his response, left his quarters and went in search of Z1-14.

\+ + +

She found Z1 on gardening duty and took a seat on a bench near him, where they could talk without appearing to.

"If I get you the necessary supplies, would you be able to create a bugout bag for each synth that wants to escape?" She gave him a quick glance, and saw the question in his eyes. "A bag filled with basic supplies – a weapon and ammo – which I've already been providing – a change of clothes, some rations and water, some medical supplies… The idea is that, when the time comes to get out of here, you grab your bag and go. Are there places where you could each hide a bag like that?"

The synth nodded thoughtfully.

"I think it could be arranged."

"Good, then I'll start adding other supplies to that crate too."

He nodded again.

"Thank you."

"Also, I know you said you and your colleagues are willing to fight for your freedom, but I'm trying to find a way to do this non-violently." She gave a sigh. "I support the Railroad's mission, but they're so fixated on it, that they don't seem to care about the loss of human lives." She gave him another quick glance, and saw a look of respect in his eyes. She blushed and cleared her throat. "I'll keep you up to date on any changes to the plan."

\+ + +

Nora set the relay to transport her to the Jalbert Brothers Disposal yard, not too far from Graygarden, and the home of Mr. Wallace. She followed the railroad tracks down to the settlement and turned towards the old pre-war home whose front yard was full of Minutemen. The first person she recognized was Preston, and she jogged towards him.

"General! I'm glad you're here. We've got a situation."

She took him by the arm and led him far enough away from the others that they couldn't be overheard.

"The Institute, I know."

His eyes widened.

"How did… did you just come from there?"

She nodded.

"They're not here to kidnap him. They want to recruit him. Apparently, the man's a genius, and they've been feeding him information, trying to figure out how much he can do. They want his help for one of their projects and sent a team to recruit him, without stopping to think of how it would look." She rolled her eyes.

Preston hesitated.

"Should we let them?"

Nora sighed.

"For once they're asking first, not just helping themselves. I think the decision should be his." She glanced at the other Minutemen in the yard. "Have them stand down and return to Graygarden. I'll take care of this."

Preston nodded.

"I hope this is the right decision."

"So do I." She patted his arm and headed towards the house, knocking first. "It's Nora. Shaun sent me to help."

The door opened a crack, and she caught a glimpse of a hazmat suited person through it.

"Oh, thank god you're here!"

The voice was Enrico Thompson's, and after looking over her shoulder and seeing the Minutemen dispersing, he opened the door fully to let her in. The front door led directly into the living room, where, in addition to Enrico, she saw two second gen synths standing with pistols ready. 

"You can put those away," she told them. "You won't need them."

Enrico nodded to them, and they holstered their weapons.

"I was starting to worry we might not make it out of this mess," Enrico continued.

"How exactly did this happen?"

Enrico gave an exasperated sigh.

"I'm not suited for field work. I've said that over and over, and they sent me anyway! There was no indication that Wallace had been in contact with anyone, or was aware that we might be watching him. If I'd known, I'd… I don't know… maybe I'd have tried to handle things differently. I know he's potentially important to Phase Three and all, but I'm not sure it's worth putting ourselves in harm's way."

"If this isn't your strong suit, why did the Institute send you specifically?"

"They thought I'd be able to relate to him, since we have similar scientific backgrounds." He shrugged uncomfortably. "Look, can we just get Wallace and get out of here?"

"No argument from me. Where is he?"

"Locked himself in there." Enrico indicated a closed door next to the front door.

Nora stepped over to it and knocked.

"Mr. Wallace? My name is Nora. Can I talk to you?"

"You're another one of… of them, aren't you? Are you a robot?"

She glanced back at Enrico, who shrugged.

"I'm not a robot. Are you OK? Have you been injured in any way?"

Wallace's voice sounded aggravated.

"I'm locked in a bathroom to avoid killer robots. Of course I'm not OK! I've heard all the stories. I know exactly what happens to people when the Institute shows up. Well, it's not happening to me!"

"Nobody here wants to kill you, Mr. Wallace. I just want to talk to you."

There was a moment of silence, then a deep sigh.

"Fine, fine. What do you want from me?"

"The Institute needs your help, Mr. Wallace. They're not here to hurt you. They want to recruit you. It's as simple as that."

"My help?" He sounded incredulous. "With what?"

She turned and gestured encouragingly to Enrico.

"The Institute has an engineering problem that your scientific expertise could help solve. In exchange for helping us out, you'd be granted access to the most advanced research facility imaginable." He hesitated and glanced at Nora, who nodded and waved her hand in a 'keep going' gesture. "Whatever research you wanted to perform, anything, it's possible there. I promise. You'd be safe and secure in a way that's completely impossible anywhere else."

"Do you have a better option than what the Institute's offering you?" Nora asked.

"No… no, I guess I don't," he responded after a few moments. He sighed. "OK, fine. I'll go."

They heard a click, and then the bathroom door opened to reveal a man in his thirties, with a receding hairline. Nora smiled at him and turned to Enrico.

"Can you handle it from here?"

Enrico nodded.

"Thanks… I mean, thanks for the assist."

"I'll leave you to it then."


	37. School Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroine has a parent-teacher conference

"I wondered if I might have a word with you?"

Nora glanced up the school room steps at Mr. Zwicky and nodded. She pulled a handful of caps out of her pocket and handed them to Nat. 

"Take the boys to Takahashi's and get yourselves a snack. Wait for me there."

Nat's eyes brightened and she eagerly took Donny's hand and pulled him towards the noodle stand, with Shaun following behind them. Nora walked back up the steps into the school room. Mr. Zwicky waved her to one of the desks and took the one next to her, turning it to face her.

"Is something wrong?"

The teacher smiled and shook his head.

"Not as such. I wanted to discuss Shaun's progress with you."

Nora leaned forward.

"Is he doing well? He seems happy enough to come here each day, but he's picked up Nat's habit of pretending he's too cool to show he's excited about stuff."

Mr. Zwicky chuckled.

"Yes, most children go through that phase."

Nora sighed.

"About the only thing he'll show any unabashed enthusiasm for recently is his building projects."

Mr. Zwicky gave her a questioning look.

"Building projects?"

"He likes to take things apart and then use the components to build something new." She smiled fondly. "He gets it from my mother, I think. She's a robotics engineer."

The teacher's eyes brightened.

"This is partly what I'd wanted to discuss with you. While there are certain areas of study in which he is on a level, or slightly below other children his age—history, agricultural methods, literature—in other areas, he is far beyond their level, or even my own. His mathematical skills, for example, far outstrip mine. Miss Edna has been tutoring him one on one in that subject." Mr. Zwicky steepled his fingers in front of his face and looked at her thoughtfully. "What worries me about him, however, is not his academics, but his social skills."

Nora frowned.

"Has he been causing problems?"

"No, no, nothing like that." He paused. "You mentioned to me when he first joined my class, that he had been—isolated, I believe was the term you used." 

Nora nodded.

"He was kidnapped by the Institute as an infant," she explained hesitantly, deciding to give him a mixed version of the truth. Mr. Zwicky's eyes widened. "It's not something I want to become general knowledge, considering people's animosity towards the Institute. I mean, I know Piper wrote about it in that article she printed about me, but most people haven't made the connection between my missing baby boy and Shaun."

Mr. Zwicky nodded seriously.

"An understandable concern." He paused and pinched his lower lip. "Was he abused there?"

Nora sighed.

"Neglected, more like. Oh, they fed and clothed him, but they took him from me to gain access to a source of untainted pre-war DNA, and they saw him as a resource and an experiment. When I found him, he was living in a lab. He had regular contact with a handful of scientists, and beyond that, was left to his own devices."

Mr. Zwicky nodded somberly.

"Thank you for sharing that with me. It does explain some of the behaviors I have seen in the boy." He continued when Nora looked at him questioningly. "He has trouble grasping play and tends to keep to himself when the other children are playing as a group. He interacts most with his siblings and hasn't made any friends of his own among the others."

Nora frowned worriedly.

"I did have a thought," he continued. "On occasion, I have the more advanced children help tutor the younger or lower level children. My original idea was to suggest that Shaun help a few of the other children with their math, and have some of the others help him with his history and agriculture work. But you mentioned that he enjoys building things. I wonder if he would enjoy teaching a hands-on engineering lesson once a month or so? It would allow him greater interactions with the other children, and I think they would find such hands-on lessons both interesting and useful."

Nora's eyebrows rose in surprise. 

"We'd have to ask him, but I'd have no objections."

The teacher smiled and stood, patting her arm as she stood as well.

"Talk to him and see what he thinks. I wouldn't pressure him into it, but as I said, I believe it would be beneficial both to him and to the other children. If he agrees, we can discuss details for the first lesson, and make arrangements to have the necessary supplies and tools brought in."

Nora nodded and headed out to the marketplace, where she found Nat instructing the two boys in the fine art of noodle slurping. Nat put her bowl down when she saw Nora and looked at her warily.

"Are we in trouble?"

Nora smiled and tousled the girl's head.

"No. He just wanted to talk to me about an idea he had for some new lessons."

Nat groaned.

"More lessons?"

"What kind of lessons?" Shaun asked curiously.

"How would you feel about teaching the other kids how to make cool things, like that gun sight you gave me?"

Shaun's eyes widened in excitement. "Really?" He paused and glanced at Nat, who was rolling her eyes, then shrugged. "I mean, I guess it would be OK."

Nora chuckled and pulled all three of them into a quick hug.

"Come on, let's go home."


	38. Rallying the Troops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines gather allies.

Piper shivered as the walls of the settlement came into view, the burial mounds they had created now hidden under a new growth of grass and shrubbery. Nora reached out and took her head, squeezing it gently.

"Yeah, me too."

Unlike their first visit to Covenant, these days, the gates to the settlement stood open during daylight hours. There was a settler on guard duty at the entrance, but she just waved cheerfully as the two women approached, and allowed them to enter without a comment. 

They made their way to the building that housed the small shop and clinic. They found Virgil examining a child, while several other people sat on and around the couch next to the clinic area. Nora caught Virgil's eye and gave him a wave and a smile, then indicated that she and Piper would get a bite to eat while they waited for him to be free.

Piper looked around frowning slightly as they exited the building.

"What?"

"Is- does this place look bigger to you than last time we were here?"

They heard a chuckle and turned to see a Minuteman sitting on a bench near them, sipping on a can of Deezer's Lemonade.

"You've got a keen eye. We shifted the walls out a bit on a couple of sides to give us a bit more room to build some new structures." He nodded to Nora. "Good to see you, General."

Nora nodded in return, then turned as she saw movement, to see Virgil coming out of the building behind them, followed by the entire crowd that had been waiting by the clinic.

"We didn't mean for you to kick everybody out."

He smiled and shook his head.

"That was my last patient." He watched the group head towards the front gate. "It's a caravan group. They seem to save up all their little aches and pains for when they're nearby and all come in together."

"How's it been going?" Piper asked, as he led them towards the new communal kitchen and dining room.

"I'm enjoying it more than I'd expected. The settlement is small enough that I usually have more than enough time to devote to my research, with the exception of large groups like that one coming in every few weeks. But it breaks up the monotony." He glanced at them. "So, what brings you out this way?"

Nora hesitated and glanced at Piper.

"I was hoping for your help. Again." He frowned and she held up a hand. "Let's grab some food and sit down and I'll explain."

He nodded warily, but didn't speak until they were all seated at an isolated table.

"So, what's this all about?"

"The Brotherhood of Steel and the Railroad both intend to destroy the Institute." He frowned and drew in a sharp breath, but didn't speak, just watched her, waiting for her to continue. "I agree that the Institute has harmed the Commonwealth. They take whatever they please. They throw their refuse back out for the people here to deal with. They kill, they spy." She sighed. "All that's true. But even after all they did to me and my family, I can't bring myself to wish them all dead. There are good people down there, and there has to be a way to neutralize the threat they represent, without resorting to wholesale murder." He continued watching her, but some of the wariness had left his eyes. "That's where I was hoping you would come in. When I first went to the Institute, I made a copy of their entire computer system. I've given a copy of it to our best tech guy in the Minutemen, and he's trying to use that data to figure out a way to do this. But, being able to pick an insider's brain…"

He hesitated.

"I'm- what about you? You've been there quite a bit, haven't you?"

"I have, but I'm by no means an insider. I wasn't born there. I don't know all the nooks and crannies of it. And I was a lawyer in my previous life, not a scientist or an engineer."

"What is it you'd want me to do?" He held up a hand. "I'm not yet saying I agree. I'd like to know what I'd be getting into first."

Nora nodded.

"If you agree, we'd escort you to Sanctuary Hills, a little ways northwest of here, and you'd spend two or three weeks working with Sturges; looking through the data I recovered, figuring out a way to take them down without destroying them." She watched him for a moment as he bit his lip and frowned. "Even after all you went through there, would you really want them all dead?"

He shook his head definitively and sighed.

"No. No, I don't want to see them dead. I disagree with a lot of what they do and have done, but…" He rubbed his face and nodded. "Yeah, OK. I'll need a day or so to arrange things here. I have an apprentice I've been training for a bit, so at least the place won't be left without a medic, but I'll need to prep her for my absence."

Nora nodded and smiled in relief. 

"Thanks, Virgil."

\+ + +

"Mother. It is good to see you again."

Nora nodded and looked him over.

"It's good to see you up. Are you feeling a bit better today?"

Shaun shrugged from his seat in front of his terminal.

"There are good days and there are bad days. Today is a relatively good day."

"Did Enrico make it back alright with Wallace?"

Shaun nodded, looking pleased.

"Indeed. Our new guest is familiarizing himself with his surroundings, yet he's already pointed out several inefficiencies in our methods."

Nora chuckled, explaining when Shaun raised a questioning eyebrow.

"When you have little, you learn to make the most of everything you have. You here in the Institute aren't used to such austerity. I'm not surprised that's what he started with."

Shaun nodded, looking thoughtful.

"When you put it that way, yes, it does make sense. At any rate, with his help, Phase 3 will be ready in no time. And it's all thanks to you."

Nora shrugged uncomfortably.

"Yes, well… I- uh- I was going to go check in with Allie and some others before I head back. I'll see you next time I'm here."

"Until next time, Mother."

She fled his office and made her way to the Binet residence, knocking on the lintel when she saw Liam inside. He looked up, his eyes brightening. He hurried over to her and pushed the button to close and lock the door behind her as he drew her into the apartment.

"I've finished it!" He hurried into the bedroom, and she watched him kneel next to one of the beds and reach under the mattress, pulling out a holotape and holding it out to her. She turned it over in her hands and glanced up at him.

"So what do I need to do?"

"There's a script on there called 'append'. Just plug the holotape into the terminal where they have the original data and run that script. It shouldn't take more than a few seconds. There's a lot less data to copy over than in the original data dump." He frowned suddenly, looking uncertain. "I copied the format of some of the lists they have in the SRB data, but I didn't add a huge amount, as I said. I figured they'd be less likely to notice if it was just a difference of a few kilobytes between the original file size and the new one. Does that sound OK to you?"

Nora laughed.

"You're the computer expert, Liam. If you say it'll work better this way, I trust you."

The young man smiled broadly at her, his cheeks darkening at her praise.

"Thanks again, Liam. I'll let you know how it turns out."


	39. Allies and Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines reach out for help

"Are you ready to head out?"

Haylen looked in surprise at Nora, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, yes. On… that mission… to retrieve the- the tech I told you about earlier. Yes. Um. No. Give me a few minutes to collect my things."

Nora bit her lip to keep from smiling and nodded, turning back to Piper, who was waiting near the entrance to the police station, and had been watching the interaction with amusement.

"We'll meet you outside," Nora called out to the young scribe over her shoulder. She led Piper out, and they stopped in the middle of the courtyard, far enough away from the soldiers on guard duty that they wouldn't be overheard.

"Do you think she'll go along with it?" Piper asked, looking dubiously between the guards and the building.

Nora sighed and shrugged.

"I hope so. It'll be easier if she does. The question, really, is whether she'll be willing to sacrifice Maxson to help us get the Brotherhood out of the Commonwealth."

Piper's brows drew together.

"It bothers me a little." Nora glanced at her in surprise. "He's so young, Blue!"

Nora sighed and nodded.

"He is. I know. But I've talked to several people in the Brotherhood about him, including Maxson himself. He spent several years of his childhood and youth under the care of Elder Lyons, the man who first led the east coast contingent. By all accounts, Elder Lyons and his successor, his daughter Sarah, were nothing like these guys." She nodded discreetly towards the guards. "They actually cared about the people of the Capital Wasteland and did what they could to improve their lives. As far as I can make out, they were a lot more like the Minutemen than the Brotherhood we know. What that means is, Maxson knows better. He was taught better and chose to reject their views in favor of the most extreme, fanatical, pro-human position available. He's not an innocent caught up in something he doesn't understand."

Just then the front door of the police station opened, and Haylen came out, dwarfed by the enormous backpack she was settling onto her shoulders. Piper gave Nora a quick nod, and turned a wide-eyed look on Haylen.

"What do you have in that thing?"

Haylen smiled at her as she fell into step beside them.

"Med-kit, some tools and scanners, spare clothes, some ammo. But there's also plenty of room to pack up any tech we come across." She glanced back across her shoulder, and finding they were out of earshot of the guards, turned to Nora. "Are we going to see Danse again?"

"Not this time. Well," Nora tilted her head to the side, "we can, but that's not why we came. There's something we wanted to talk to you about away from the other Brotherhood soldiers." She frowned. "And to be honest, I'm not sure Danse would approve."

Haylen's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"OK, now you've got me curious. What is it?"

Nora held up a hand.

"Ten minutes. We'll go somewhere safe were we can talk without worrying about getting ambushed."

The young scribe nodded acquiescence, and followed as they led her down the river and across the bridge to Hangman's Alley. Haylen looked around with interest as they entered the settlement, her eyes widening as they made their way up to their apartment.

"This… is this your home?"

Piper nodded and looked proudly at Nora. 

"It's all her work. She's good, isn't she?"

Haylen nodded as a blushing Nora led her to the living room and gestured her to a seat. She shrugged off her backpack and sat down, looking between them expectantly.

"So?"

Nora took a deep breath.

"So." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "Would you agree with our assessment that the Brotherhood's plans to eradicate the Institute and all its synths are likely to lead to all out war? With the Institute itself; possibly with the Railroad, since they're trying to help runaway synths; and with any one else who dares get in their way?"

Haylen frowned and looked down, appearing uncomfortable. After a moment, she nodded.

"I worry that's what it's going to come to, yes."

Nora glanced at Piper and nodded.

"We're working with the Minutemen on a plan to neutralize the Institute. A plan that doesn't involve mass murder. But for it to work, we've got to get rid of the Brotherhood." Haylen looked up sharply and Nora held up a hand. "We've got a plan for that too, one that involves minimal casualties within the Brotherhood."

Haylen's eyes narrowed. 

"Minimal casualties?"

Nora sighed and lowered her eyes. 

"One, in particular." She started to explain her plan to paint Maxson as a synth infiltrator and create chaos in the upper echelons of their ranks. "If we do this right, we should be able to convince the remaining leadership that they need to return to the Capital Wasteland, maybe even back west." She sighed. "But yes, Maxson is our sacrificial lamb."

Haylen looked uncertain.

"What do you want me to do?"

"You're a scribe. You have easy access to Quinlan's labs and the terminal they're using to decrypt the Institute data. If you agree to this, I'd like you to be the one to copy the new data over. If you're not… I hope you'll at least give me a layout of the lab and where that terminal is, as well as an idea of the schedules in there, so that I can get in and out without being noticed."

Haylen frowned and bit her lip.

"I-I need to think about this."

Nora nodded.

"Of course. Do you want to head back to the station, or…" 

Haylen shook her head.

"Could I just have a minute?"

Piper stood and held a hand out to Nora, tugging her to her feet.

"Take as long as you need. We'll be downstairs when you're ready."

\+ + +

They made their way to ground level and spent about half an hour helping Curie and a few of the other settlers with the construction of the building which would house the settlement's new clinic and Curie's new lab. Piper noticed Haylen watching from across the courtyard and nudged Nora, who said a few words to Curie before walking over to the young scribe, a nervous hand on Piper's arm. Haylen wiped her hands up and down her thighs, and took a deep breath.

"I'll help you. I'll copy over the new data. But…" she looked around hesitantly at the settlers, the new building, the rebuilt homes. "You told me once that, if I wanted to leave the Brotherhood…" She gulped. "Is that still true? Because if they go back to the Capital Wasteland, I'm not sure I want to go with them. Especially not if Danse is going to be stranded here too."

Nora nodded emphatically. 

"Yes. Absolutely. Any one of them would be lucky and thrilled to have you." She reached into a pocket and pulled out the holotape Liam had given her. "When do you think…?"

Haylen reached for the tape and bit her lip.

"I'll head over to the Prydwen on the next vertibird transport. Hopefully I'll be able to get it copied tonight, but if Proctor Quinlan has any high priority projects going on, it may be a day or two before the lab's empty enough for me to do it without being noticed."

Nora nodded.

"Be careful. Don't put yourself in any unnecessary danger." She quickly explained Liam's instructions. "Do you want to go visit Danse before you head over to the Prydwen?"

Haylen hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"No. He'll notice I'm worried about something. And you're right. He wouldn't approve of this plan, despite how Maxson and the Brotherhood treated him. Best if I don't see him again till after."


	40. Precipice of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines hear some disconcerting news and race to the rescue.

Early the next morning Nora and Piper were woken by a banging on the door. Piper looked up blearily. 

"S'going on?"

"I'll go."

Nora pushed herself out of bed and shuffled out of the room, yawning and rubbing her face. She waved Cait and Curie back into their bedroom and cracked open the front door to find one of the settlers who'd been on guard duty looking at her worriedly.

"What is it, Pete?"

"Brotherhood of Steel at the door asking for you."

Nora blinked and took a moment for her still half asleep brain to process that.

"Soldiers?"

Pete hesitated, then shook his head.

"One of them sciency ones, I think."

"Just the one?" He nodded. "Female? Young?"

He nodded again.

"She seems pretty desperate."

"OK. Tell her I'll be right down."

He nodded and jogged back down the stairs, while she made her way back to the bedroom, where Piper was leaning up on one elbow, waiting for her to return.

"Blue?"

"Haylen's back. I think."

Piper blinked as she watched Nora dress quickly.

"You think?"

"Young, female, sciency Brotherhood of Steel?"

"Hmm. Yeah."

"He said she was pretty frantic."

Piper frowned and pushed herself to a seat.

"You think she got caught?"

Nora sighed and shrugged.

"Only one way to find out." 

She headed out the door at a brisk walk and took the three flights of stairs down at a jog. Pete saw her coming, and pointed her to the entrance nearest the river. Through the open gate, she saw Haylen pacing nervously back and forth.

"Haylen? What's wrong? What happened?"

The young scribe jumped and turned gratefully towards her.

"Finally! I tried to tell them it was urgent, but they wouldn't let me in, and…"

Nora put her hands on Haylen's shoulders and gave her a little shake.

"Haylen! What happened? Did Quinlan or one of his people catch you?"

Haylen looked confused for a moment, as though she'd completely forgotten why she'd gone to the Prydwen in the first place..

"Oh! No. That went off without a hitch."

"Then what's got you so worried?"

"I overheard some chatter. They've figured out where Railroad headquarters is, and Maxson's approved an attack. They were heading into a briefing when I heard them. I came straight here as quickly as I could."

Nora's breath caught in her throat and she stared at the younger woman wide-eyed for a moment, before nodding sharply.

"Thanks, Haylen."

She immediately turned and dashed back into the apartment building and up the stairs. She knocked at Cait and Curie's door and opened it before they could respond. 

"Cait, I need your help. The Brotherhood's attacking Railroad headquarters at any moment."

"Those bastards." She got up and started pulling on clothes, glancing approvingly at Curie, who did the same.

"Though I do not enjoy fighting, my medical skills may be needed. I will come as well."

Nora nodded.

"Thanks, Curie."

She hurried into her bedroom to find Piper already dressed, and tying the laces on her boots.

"I overheard," she said as Nora entered.

Nora gave her a tight smile and nodded.

"I'll head down to the armory and get everyone's weapons and armor. Would you stop at my mother's and ask her and Vicky to watch the kids?"

Piper nodded. She grabbed her pack and made a detour in the kitchen to grab a few cans of water and some fruit and grain bars Nora had been experimenting with a few days ago. She quickly munched one of them on her way down, and when she met the others in the armory, handed the rest out to them. 

"Good idea," Cait said, around a mouthful. "No good fightin' on an empty stomach."

Within minutes, they were picking their way across the city as quietly as possible. It was early enough that they didn't run into any problems, and were able to slip into the back entrance just as the sun was starting to show.

Desdemona was already standing at the map table, cigarette in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. She looked back over her shoulder as she heard them come in.

"Eighty-six. What news?"

"We have a crisis. The Brotherhood's on their way here."

Out of the corner of her eye, Nora saw Glory approaching the table, hefting her minigun.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"My inside person in the Brotherhood caught wind of a surprise attack."

Desdemona ran a hand through her hair.

"Jesus!" She turned to look around the crypt. "Everyone, mobilize! We've got Brotherhood incoming!" She turned back to Nora. "How much time do we have?"

Nora shook her head.

"Not much. When my contact left the Prydwen, they were briefing the team. Even with as much red tape as they use, it won't be long now."

Desdemona grimaced and nodded.

"Let's get to it then."

Glory stepped up to Nora.

"I'll take the front entrance, you take the back."

Nora nodded and glanced at her friends.

"I'm with you," Piper said, simply.

"I will go with Madame Glory," Curie chimed in.

Cait, who'd been about to speak, hesitated, looking at Curie.

"I'll go front too."

Nora nodded.

"Be careful, you three. These are trained soldiers."

They nodded and headed for the door, while Nora and Piper, along with Desdemona, Carrington and PAM, headed into the tunnels that led to the back entrance.


	41. The Railroad at War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines protect their friends.

"Shit!"

Piper glanced at Nora in surprise as she turned and ran back into the main crypt.

"Deacon!"

He turned, his hand on the door out of the crypt to follow Glory, and raised his chin questioningly.

"I need to borrow your costume box."

"Is this really the time, Blue?"

Nora looked back at Piper.

"If I still want a chance for my plan with the Brotherhood to work, I need them to not recognize me during this fight, just in case any of them make it back to the Prydwen to report."

Piper's eyes showed dawning understanding as Deacon led Nora into a corner of the crypt and showed her a crate filled with hats and clothes, with various wigs on mannequin heads ranged on a shelf above it. 

"Help yourself. I'll leave you to it."

Nora nodded gratefully as she reached for a luridly pink wig and quickly tugged it on, followed by a fedora and a pair of Deacon's signature patrolman sunglasses. She glanced down at her clothes and shrugged.

"Nothing particularly distinctive about these, and combat armor is combat armor, so I think this'll do." She dropped the lid on the crate and turned to Piper. "Let's go."

Piper nodded and they jogged back out of the crypt, joining Dez and Carrington in the tunnels. Desdemona gave her a confused look, and Carrington tutted, annoyed.

"Do you think this is a joke?"

Keeping one ear cocked towards the entrance, Nora shook her head.

"No, Doctor. I'm well aware that this is deadly serious." She glanced between the two. "I've been working on a plan to get the Brotherhood out of the Commonwealth. It was while enacting one of the final steps of it that my contact overheard the plans for this attack. If we survive today, I can still get rid of them, but in order for my plan to work, I'll need to be a member in good standing of the Brotherhood for at least a little bit longer. Hence…" She tugged gently on a garish pink strand by her cheek. 

Desdemona nodded slowly. Nora unslung her rifle from her back and checked the magazine.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you we'll probably be up against at least one soldier in power armor." Everyone nodded. "Something you may not know, something the military did its very best to cover up during the war, is that power armor has a vulnerability." She glanced around to make sure she had everyone's attention. The rest of the Railroad agents crowded in closer behind Dez and Carrington, listening carefully. "If you can get behind them, and, very precisely shoot out the fusion core?" She held her closed fists together in front of her and sharply moved them apart, opening her hands and making the noise of an explosion. She heard an impressed whistle from one of the agents. "Just be careful doing it in an enclosed space. You might bring down the whole tunnel."

They all nodded. Nora glanced again at Dez and Carrington.

"If it's alright with you, Piper and I will head outside to watch for their arrival." Desdemona nodded. "I'd like another three or four to come with us, anyone who's good with sneaking and hiding and is a good shot from a distance." Desdemona quickly called out a few names and the six of them headed for the exit.

At the door, Nora held up a hand for silence and listened carefully before unlocking the door. She peeked through and nodded over her shoulder at the others.

"OK, when we get out there, scatter and find cover. Keep in mind they'll probably be coming by vertibird, so you'll need cover from above as well. Piper and I will be heading up high," she patted the other weapon she had slung over her back, which Piper now noticed was a missile launcher, "and try to take down the 'bird before it lands. Don't take foolish chances. OK?" She looked around at them all and waited till they nodded before opening the door fully and letting them out.

They watched the Railroad agents disperse for a few moments, before Nora pointed to a ruined building a few hundred meters further down the road.

"Let's see if we can get up on the roof of that one. Should give us a good view towards the Prydwen." Piper nodded and they took off at a jog, and started clambering up the piles of rubble, and remaining furniture, alternately pulling and pushing each other up the steeper bits, until they were on the roof. In the distance, they could see the outline of the Prydwen hanging in the sky above Boston Airport, and black against the blue sky, the shape of two vertibirds approaching. 

"Just in time," Nora muttered, looking around the roof, and peering off the edge on one side. "Hey, Pipes, look. They had a little patio down there."

"Huh?" Piper looked at her in confusion.

"It's only about a six foot drop. If we go down there, we'll be able to use the furniture as cover, so they'll have a harder time making out where we are once I start attacking."

"Got it." Piper sat on the edge of the roof and dropped lightly down to the lower rooftop, then reached up to take Nora's weapons and held them while she jumped down as well. Nora took the missile launcher from her, pulled off her pack, and pulled out two contraptions with four missiles each. Piper noticed there was another just like them already attached to the launcher. 

Nora noticed her curious looks and answered her unspoken question as she finished preparing for the attack.

"Got the mod from Arturo a while back, but haven't really needed it until now. It'll let me launch four missiles in quick succession. Unfortunately, I only have three of these frames, but if you'll load more missiles into them as I empty them? I loaded as many as I could carry into my pack." 

Piper glanced into the pack and saw at least another half dozen missiles standing on end inside it. She nodded.

"Got it, Blue."

By now they could hear the vertibirds' engines as they got closer. Nora and Piper quickly pushed over the three picnic tables and arranged them as a makeshift barricade. Nora hefted the missile launcher, leaning the barrel against the edge of one of the tables, and pushing the stock firmly into her shoulder. Then they waited for the vertibirds to come into range. 

"Dammit, they're splitting up!" Piper called out as one of the 'birds peeled off from the leader.

"They must know where both entrances are and want to hit them both simultaneously." Nora spared a thought for her friends guarding the front entrance before turning her attention back to the vertibird now looming large above them.

She aimed carefully and quickly shot off all four missiles, pulled off the empty frame and reloaded the weapon, without stopping to see the result. As she snapped the next frame into place, she heard the explosions and glanced up to see the vertibird lurch, as three of the four shots impacted.

"Keep down, Pipes. They have a Knight with a minigun at the door."

Piper nodded and ducked her head low, as she figured out the reloading mechanism on the empty frame. Nora once again lined up her shot and released the four missiles. This time all four hit their mark, and the 'bird's blades stuttered, the craft falling several dozen meters before the pilot managed to stabilize it.

Over the roar of the engines, they heard the minigun start spitting out rounds, and at a distance, return fire. Piper poked her head out the side of their barricade as Nora reloaded again.

"Looks like there's a raider camp just down there. I guess they think that's where the attack's coming from."

"At this point, I'll take any help I can get. Even from raiders." Nora lined up her shot again, and four more missiles arced towards the vertibird. This time, the blades on one side stopped completely, a crumpled, crooked mess, and the vertibird lurched sideways. They watched as it went down in a somewhat controlled crash. Nora quickly stuffed the remaining missiles and the frames back into her pack and gestured to the higher roof they had come from.

"Let's get to the other side of the building where we can see them approaching the entrance."

Piper nodded and pushed one of the patio chairs up to the wall and clambered up on it. With Nora boosting her up, she quickly climbed up to the next roof, then reached down for Nora's weapons and pack, and then reached out a hand to help Nora up as well.

Keeping to a crouch, to made their way back down into the ruined building and found a perch behind the cover of a desk. After a few minutes, they started hearing gunfire, both ballistic and the hiss of laser fire. Nora held on to the broken edge of the wall and peeked around the corner towards the vertibird wreckage.

"The raiders came out to play," she said over her shoulder. After a few more moments, she pulled back. "I counted ten remaining Brotherhood of Steel. Three in power armor."

Silence finally fell, and then they heard the loud clomping of the power armored soldiers approaching their position. Nora lay flat on the ground with her sniper rifle pulled tight against her shoulder and waited for them to come into view. Once they were visible, she sighted through her scope, took a breath and shot. 

"Wow, four at once!" Piper said as she surveyed the results of the explosion. "That leaves two in power armor and four without."

Nora nodded and lined up her next shot, waiting for her target to turn their back on her and give her access to the fusion core. As she waited, they heard shots ring out from other directions as well, as the hidden Railroad operatives took their chance. Nora took her shot and lit up the street below with another fusion core explosion. Before she could line up her last shot, the remaining three soldiers ran to cover in the ruined building that hid the back entrance to the Railroad.

Piper and Nora quickly clambered down to ground level and followed, but before they rounded the corner into that building, heard another explosion. They were joined by three of the other Railroad operatives as they cautiously approached, weapons ready. 

The explosion had collapsed some of the remaining walls, burying the bodies of the three remaining Brotherhood soldiers, and also burying the door into Railroad headquarters. Piper frowned and looked around at the other operatives.

"Who took the shot?"

"Must have been Arthur," one of them said. "He's the only one missing."

"Look!" Another of the operatives pointed up to the remains of the second story, where they could see a bloodied hand hanging down.

"Shit." Nora quickly pulled a medkit from her pack and clambered up a nearby bookcase. Piper and the three operatives waited impatiently as she crouched down next to Arthur, disappearing from their view. They heard her sigh. "Dammit." She peered over the edge at them and shook her head. "He was too close to the blast."

She climbed back down and looked at the others.

"We'll come back for him when this is done. For now, we need to go around to the front entrance and back up Glory and the others. They're dealing with a full 'bird's worth of soldiers. And Dez, Carrington and the others are now trapped inside. The only way we'll get them out is through the catacombs."

Piper and the three operatives nodded grimly.


	42. David vs. Goliath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the underdog bites back.

Nora, Piper and the three remaining Railroad operatives, Maureen, Alice and Fred, made their way quietly and stealthily back to the Old North Church, and the front entrance to Railroad headquarters. As they approached the rear of the church, Nora held up a hand to stop the group and put a finger to her ear. They all paused to listen.

"Are they fighting them out in the open?" Piper asked in a low voice.

Alice shook her head.

"I don't hear any railway rifles, or Glory's minigun."

Nora held up a finger for silence again and listened a moment longer.

"Super mutants."

"There's a nest of them a few hundred yards away from the church," confirmed Maureen.

Piper choked back a laugh.

"They landed their vertibird in a super mutant nest?"

"Like I said before, I'll take any help we can get." Nora pointed forward. "Let's keep going."

They made their way down the alley along the side of the church, pausing again when Nora once more held up her hand. Through hand motions, she instructed the others to stay behind while she crept to the mouth of the alley, Piper following close behind her.

Nora pulled her rifle off her shoulder and put an eye to the scope, looking down the plaza in front of the church. After a few moments she slung the rifle back over her shoulder and turned. She fell back against the wall of the church with a startled squeak, quickly muffled as she clapped a hand over her mouth. Piper watched bemusedly as she took a deep breath and regained her composure.

"I didn't hear you. I thought you'd stayed with the others."

Piper smirked.

"Sneakier than you thought I was, huh, Blue?"

Nora gave a quiet huff of laughter and pushed Piper's shoulder, shaking her head.

"Come on, Agent 47. Let's get back to the others."

Piper grinned.

"I may not understand the reference, but I'm going to take it as a compliment."

The three agents looked up eagerly as they rejoined them. Nora and Piper quickly sobered, turning their minds back to the task at hand.

"This vertibird crashed too. I saw two soldiers near it fighting off some super mutants. I assume the remaining survivors are already inside the church."

"That's great! We can let them fight it out and go inside to help the others." Fred, the youngest operative hefted his rifle enthusiastically.

Nora grimaced and shook her head.

"If the soldiers manage to fight off the super mutants, we'll end up trapped between two groups of them. I'm all for letting them fight it out, but we'll need to keep an eye on them until they're done. If the soldiers survive, we finish them off and _then_ head inside."

The others nodded, and they started down one side of the plaza, using the surrounding buildings as cover. Nora held up a hand to stop them once again, and pointed ahead to an armored figure clomping slowly towards them, looking much the worse for wear, with a huge rent in the chest plate. As they readied their weapons, they heard two sharp cracks of gunfire in quick succession. The figure staggered, dropped to one knee, then fell prone.

Nora looked up sharply in the direction of the shots and gave a little laugh, raising her hand in a quick salute. When Piper followed her gaze, she saw Deacon perched astride the roof of the church, waving back at Nora, a rifle in his free hand.

With a glance at the fallen Brotherhood soldier, Nora gestured to the others, and jogged towards the entrance of the church, stopping short to call up to Deacon.

"How many went in?"

"A dozen. Five of them in power armor."

Nora winced, nodded and turned to Piper and the other operatives.

"So we obviously can't shoot out the fusion cores inside there. But there is another vulnerability we can take advantage of." She saw them perk up. "I'm not going to sugar coat it, this is dangerous, but then so is going up against a soldier in power armor. If you can get close enough to them without being seen, it's possible to just pull the fusion core right out of the suit, and then they're dead in the water. And without power, the CO2 scrubber in the suit stops working. They have to get out, or risk suffocating. They'll be at their most vulnerable as they're exiting the suit." She saw evil grins growing on everyone's faces. "We split up into two groups, three, if we run into Deacon inside. One person bags the fusion core, the other takes out the soldier as they exit the suit."

"Man, if this works, we'd end up with a few suits of power armor in our arsenal," Maureen said excitedly. "Something like Bunker Hill comes our way again, we could really use them."

They slipped into the church and into a cacophony of laser and gunfire, as two of the five armored soldiers took on at least twice that many Railroad operatives who were perched along the balconies, using the cover offered by the railings to rain down railway spikes and bullets. Two of the unarmored soldiers already lay dead in the middle of the sanctuary. 

Nora's group paused in the foyer, looking into the sanctuary. Piper put a hand on Nora's shoulder and leaned towards her.

"You're a better shot than I am. I'll get the core," she whispered.

Nora nodded.

"Be careful."

The operatives had also had a whispered conversation, and Fred joined Piper as she crept through the doorway. Piper tapped his arm and then indicated which of the power armored soldiers she was heading for. He nodded. 

Nora knelt in the doorway, quickly removed the scope on her rifle, and settled it at her shoulder, watching as Piper crept up behind the soldier, dancing back a step to avoid being crushed as the soldier stepped backward, then standing on tiptoe and grabbing the handle above the air tanks and hoisting herself up to stand on the back of one of the legs, and reaching for the fusion core with her free hand. With a quick twist, she pulled it free, jumped off and scurried to cover behind one of the pews, as the soldier lurched to a stop.

Nora sighted along the rifle and waited, forcing herself to breathe slowly and calmly after the stress of watching Piper run into danger. The armor hissed open, exposing the soldier's whole back to her, and she gently squeezed the trigger, taking him in the head and splattering brain matter over the inside of the power armor. 

She heard another shot next to her as Fred slipped away from his target, fusion core in hand. He fell with a cry, as the last remaining Brotherhood soldier in the sanctuary noticed what was happening and turned his fire on Fred. It turned out to be his last action, as every Railroad operative in the sanctuary fired upon him, turning him into mincemeat. 

Piper came out from behind her pew and hurried over to the young operative, who rolled over clutching at his arm. The others joined her as she looked up.

"I think the bullet's still lodged in there. It'll need more than a stimpak."

Nora nodded and looked around as the other Railroad operatives, including Deacon gathered around them.

"One of you stay with him and patch him up. The back door's blocked, so the only way to get to Carrington is through the rest of those soldiers."

One of the other agents gestured over at the two empty power armor suits.

"What do you reckon?"

Deacon laughed sardonically.

"I reckon that's a good way to commit suicide by Glory."

The agent's face fell.

"Oh. Yeah."

"We can try the fusion core trick again down there," Nora said. "Just be careful of friendly fire. Our friends don't know we'll be behind the enemy."

They nodded and the group started down into the tunnels.

The remaining soldiers had reached the chamber in which Nora and Piper had first met Dez. It appeared that they had used an explosive to blow the opening. The three power armored soldiers were now ranged at the widest point of the entrance, with their four unarmored colleagues clustered behind them. They could hear Glory's minigun stuttering across the chamber.

Nora glanced at her companions' weapons and quickly pointed to three others who had suppressors on them. They made quick work of the unarmored soldiers, the muffled sounds of their own shots further hidden by the gunfire ahead of them.

Deacon and two others then snuck in behind the three remaining soldiers. As Deacon reached up and grabbed his target's fusion core, Glory's minigun fell silent. Deacon froze for a moment, then they saw his shoulders stiffen as he quickly twisted the fusion core out and ducked to the ground, allowing his friends to shoot over his head.

In short order, the Brotherhood had been dealt with. As the younger members of the Railroad started celebrating, Deacon, Nora and Piper along with a few others, slipped past the empty power armor suits to the other side of the chamber, where they found Curie and Cait leaning over Glory's body. There were laser burns all over her body, and blood oozing from several bullet holes. She looked up as Deacon and Nora knelt next to her.

"None of them got past me." She winced. "Damn… that stings." She reached out a bloody hand and grabbed Nora's sleeve. "Listen, the Railroad's always sitting on its hand…" She groaned, braced herself and continued. "You're the best thing that's ever happened. Promise me you'll free them. All of them."

Nora glanced anxiously at Curie, who was stripping Glory's clothes and working on the worst of her injuries, then turned back to the white-haired synth.

"Hold on, Glory. You'll make it through."

Glory gave a laugh that was half sob.

"Bullshit." She panted, her eyelids fluttering. "Isn't there… supposed to be a light?" Her eyes closed and her head fell to the side.

Nora and Deacon looked again at Curie, who had her fingers pressed to the pulse point at Glory's neck.

"She is unconscious." They sighed in relief. "But she is not well. She has lost a great deal of blood. I require Doctor Carrington's assistance."

Nora nodded and stood. 

"Send someone up to help bring Fred down," she called over her shoulder to Deacon as she headed further in.

She stopped at the main entrance and knocked before opening the door.

"It's Nora. Don't shoot."

She cracked open the door and flinched when she found Carrington, Dez, Tom and all the remaining Railroad operatives pointing their weapons at her. They dropped them immediately when they saw it was her.

"Carrington, we need you at the entrance. Glory. We should probably bring a stretcher."

Carrington nodded and hurried into his corner, grabbed a bag of supplies and dumped it on top of a wheeled stretcher. He wheeled it through the door with the help of one of the agents, as Nora and Piper stepped aside to let them pass.

"Report, Eighty-six." Dez holstered her weapon and walked up to Nora.

"We lost Arthur, and Fred's injured. There might be some other minor injuries, but Glory's in the worst shape. There were no survivors among the Brotherhood."

Dez nodded, her face a mixture of grief and relief.

"I hate to think how this would have ended if you hadn't heard of the impending attack. Thank you. You said you had a plan to get rid of the rest of them?"

Nora nodded, but before she could explain Carrington and Curie returned with Glory on the stretcher. With help from several operatives they carried the stretcher down the steps and into Carrington's makeshift infirmary. Cait joined Nora and Piper, glancing over her shoulder at Curie and Glory.

"She wouldn't take cover, the daft cow, just stood there out in the open with that feckin' minigun of hers."

Dez gave her a tight smile. 

"That's Glory all over." She turned back to Nora. "You were saying?"

Nora nodded and gave her a quick rundown of her plan.

"I need to capitalize on this win," she said, glancing at Piper. "A failed attack, authorized by Maxson, will let me raise questions about his effectiveness and his loyalties. But I'll have to head over there right away."

Piper nodded.

"I'll stay here with Cait and Curie. We'll head back home together." She pulled Nora into a hug. "Be careful. I love you."

"I love you too, Pipes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I'd forgotten to talk about Maxson's DNA earlier, so I went back to chapter 35 and retconned it in, if you want to go back and read the addition.


	43. Telling tales

"Hey, boss! Wait up."

Nora turned back towards the entrance to the catacombs to see Deacon coming up the steps, wearing a Brotherhood of Steel scribe uniform and settling one of their over-sized backpacks onto his shoulders. She raised an eyebrow.

"What's with the getup?"

"Dez thought you might need backup. Wouldn't be the first time I've been out there dressed like this."

She shrugged.

"Sure. Let's go." She turned back towards the church entrance as Deacon fell into step beside her. "How much of my plan did you hear?"

"Enough to know I can help with your next stage, planting doubts."

Nora nodded.

"Good enough. I'll focus my attention on the officers, you focus on the rank and file."

\+ + +

They made their way first to the Cambridge Police Station, where a very worried Haylen greeted Nora with palpable relief. She opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated and glanced around at her fellow soldiers and scribes.

"Uh, welcome back, Paladin. How did your latest mission go?"

"Very well, thank you, scribe. We pushed back the, uh, abominations, with minimum casualties on our side."

Haylen gulped and nodded.

"Good to hear."

Nora pitched her voice slightly higher, so the people working around them could overhear.

"I've heard rumors of an attack on that Railroad group. My sources say it went badly, that the group Maxson sent was completely wiped out. How did we not know they were so powerful?"

Haylen blinked.

"All of them?"

"That's what I've heard."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a few soldiers listening in.

"The Railroad defeated a whole squadron of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers?" one of them broke in incredulously.

Deacon scoffed.

"No way our intel would be so far off." He frowned. "Could it? Unless someone's feeding us the wrong intel…" He let his voice trail off.

"But who…" another one started, but was interrupted by the first soldier.

"Danse? He's a synth, he's probably working with the Railroad!"

Nora shook her head and made an emphatic motion with one hand.

"Danse has been dead for over two months. I killed him myself. But…" she hesitated, glancing at Deacon, who picked up the thread.

"Where there's one…" 

They watched as the group around them started looking around suspiciously at their companions, the paranoia born when Quinlan found Danse's DNA on the Institute list growing before their eyes. Nora cleared her throat.

"I've got to get to the Prydwen. Good to see you again, Haylen."

"If you don't mind, Paladin, I have the possible location for another piece of tech I'd like collected. No rush, of course, but if you'll step over here, I can give you the coordinates."

Nora nodded and stepped over to Haylen's map table. Haylen pointed to several locations on the map, while speaking in a low voice.

"Did you really kill them all?"

Nora nodded seriously.

"It was them or us, Haylen. Surely you knew that before you told me."

Haylen nodded and looked down at the map.

"Yeah."

Nora put a hand on her arm.

"I'm trying to save as many lives as possible, but they brought the fight to us."

Haylen nodded again and sighed.

"I really do need to head to the Prydwen. I'll see you later, Haylen."

\+ + +

"Is it true Maxson sent an entire squad of soldiers against the Railroad and got them all slaughtered?" Though speaking in a low voice to Ingram, Nora made sure it was loud enough to be overheard by the nearest of her crew of scribes.

Ingram frowned.

"I'd heard about the attack on the Railroad. It was quite a coup figuring out the location of their headquarters. What makes you think they were killed?"

Nora shrugged.

"It's all over Diamond City. Big ruckus with a couple of vertibirds' worth of soldiers. Rumor says nobody got out. What was he thinking? And how did we not know they were that strong?"

Ingram's frown deepened.

"I… I think I'll wait for official word before jumping to any conclusions. Now, did you have any more materials for me, Paladin?"

Nora nodded and emptied a few items from her pack.

"Not too much this time. I've also been doing jobs for Quinlan and Neriah."

"Well, every little bit helps. We're getting there. Keep up the good work."

She turned away, allowing Nora to step over to the workbench where Madison Li appeared to be reassembling a complicated electronic device.

"You might want to prepare a bug-out bag. The shit will start hitting the fan at any moment and you'll probably have very little notice to slip away."

Madison gave her a hard look and nodded.

"I always have a bag packed when I'm around the Brotherhood."

"I know you're fully capable of taking care of yourself, but I have some suggestions of places you could go, if you wanted to." Madison raised an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt. "You already know where I live. You're welcome there any time." She opened her pip boy map and pointed to a spot. "This is Covenant. It's where Virgil lives." She saw the scientist's eyes widen slightly. Nora shrugged. "Just keep them in mind."

Madison nodded, and Nora made her way to the regular vertibird transport up to the Prydwen. Under the guise of dropping off documents to Quinlan and blood samples to Neriah, she spent some time with each of them, spreading rumors, raising doubts, as she had with Ingram earlier. She also spent some time in the mess, the barracks and the little ad-hoc recreation area in the belly of the ship, spreading rumors among the enlisted soldiers as well.

As she turned to head back up the stairs, she caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye, and when she turned, saw a scribe's uniform slipping behind some pylons beyond the little recreation area. There was something furtive about the figure's movement, and she turned to follow, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Deep within the belly of the ship, just when she'd started to think she might not have seen anyone after all, she came across Deacon, kneeling over a hole in the bulkhead, the panel that covered it lying on the floor beside him.

"What are you doing? I thought you were going to be spreading rumors among the rank and file?"

He jumped at her voice, and stood with a sigh, giving her a view into the space. She could see what appeared to be an explosive device. 

"What's going on, Deacon?"

He shrugged.

"Like I said. Backup. If your plan fails, or they come back, we've got another plan in place." He shook his head and raised a hand to her. "Look, I know you're all about saving lives, but they would have killed all of us without a second thought. And they'd gleefully kill Glory, your friend Curie and even your little boy if they ever find out what they are. We just don't intend to give them that opportunity a second time. If your plan works, more power to you, but if they ever bring this ship back to the Commonwealth, or show any more aggression towards us, we intend to retaliate in kind. There's more than one way to save lives."


	44. Cutting off the Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which one of Nora's plans comes to fruition.

In the middle of a long conversation with Deacon, Nora noticed a change in the noise level on the ship, audible even above the hum of the engines. She put a hand on his arm, and held the other up near her ear, her head cocked to one side. Deacon's eyes narrowed.

"Something's going on."

Nora stood and brushed herself off.

"We'll finish this later. In the meantime, I think the shit may have just hit the fan. Let's go."

They split up, each taking a different set of stairs up to the main level. When Nora reached the mess hall, she noticed off-duty scribes and soldiers huddled nervously together, muttering in low voices and staring suspiciously at everyone around them.

She approached one of the groups in time to hear one of the scribes say, "I'm telling you, this is worse than Danse! At least he didn't actually remember he was one."

"Was one what?" she asked quietly.

The scribe who'd been talking jumped and looked at her warily.

"Uh… nothing, ma'am. Excuse me, I have to get back to my post." He scurried away, leaving the rest of the small group glancing between her and the departing scribe with wide eyes, before quickly excusing themselves and hurrying away.

Nora bit back a satisfied smile and headed towards the bow of the ship, glancing into Quinlan's work area as she passed. She was unsurprised to see he was not in there, nor was Knight-Captain Cade in the medical bay across the hall. She continued forward and took the ladder up to the command deck.

Maxson was standing in his usual spot on the lookout deck, staring out over the Commonwealth, with his hands clasped behind his back, and she could hear murmured voices from the bridge just below. She made her way to the head of the staircase and glanced down. The usually busy bridge was nearly empty, with only Quinlan, Cade and Captain Kells huddling together at the entrance. Nora caught Captain Kells' eye. He waved her down urgently.

"Paladin. Good. I'm glad you are here. You assisted us with the Danse debacle. I hope you will be able to help us again."

Nora stood at attention.

"Sir."

Kells looked seriously at Quinlan, who was chewing nervously on his bottom lip. 

"I'll ask you again, Proctor. Are you absolutely certain? This isn't a mere soldier we're talking about here."

Quinlan shook his head wildly and ran his hands through his hair.

"The evidence is as solid as it was for Danse. The DNA samples match. I double-checked with Cade."

The Knight-Captain nodded somberly.

"There's no doubt about it."

Nora pasted a questioning look on her face and glanced between the three men.

"Another synth?" She frowned. "But not a soldier?" She pretended to think for a few moments. "Is it Doctor Li? She lived among them for nearly a decade."

Kells sighed and shook his head.

"I wish it were that simple. No." He rubbed a hand over his face. "This cannot leave this room until we've decided how to deal with it, understood?"

Nora nodded.

"Yes, sir. But you should know, the rank and file know something is going on. Scuttlebutt is already spreading, though the lower ranks wouldn't speak freely in front of me."

Kells exchanged a worried glance with Quinlan and Cade.

"We'll need to move more quickly than expected, then."

"If it's not Doctor Li, who is it?" She glanced between the three men, and raised an eyebrow. "Ingram? Neriah?" She smirked suddenly, as though making a joke. "Maxson?" She allowed the smile to drop from her face as she glanced between them again. "No. What? No!" 

Kells nodded seriously.

"Wait. The one thing I overheard downstairs, before they saw me listening, was that this was worse than Danse, because at least he hadn't known he was a synth. What did they mean?"

"Former-paladin Danse was on a list of synth runaways. Rumor has it that many runaways undergo treatment to have their memories wiped, so they will not give themselves away."

Nora nodded.

"I've heard this too."

Quinlan sighed grimly and continued.

"Maxson's name and DNA sample were not on a list of runaways. They were on a list of infiltrators. The real Maxson was taken by the Institute. We have no way of knowing how long ago. The man we've been following is an impostor."

Nora blinked a few times, as though trying to process what she was hearing.

"Is that…" She frowned and lowered her voice. "Is that why he sent an entire squad to their deaths trying to take out the Railroad? Is he trying to destroy the Brotherhood through attrition?"

Quinlan and Cade looked from her to Kells in shock, but Kells' grim expression told her he had already had the same idea. 

"So what do we do? Do we confront him? Or do we let him believe he's still fooling us, and maybe try to feed him false information to send back to the Institute?" She stopped suddenly and shook her head. "Wait, no. Gossip's already spreading among the troops. There's no way we'd be able to keep that up for long."

Kells shook his head and his lip curled in disgust.

"No. We will not have a synth for a leader for a moment longer."

"Sir?" Nora spoke hesitantly, glancing between Kells and the other two men. When Kells nodded, she continued. "I hate to ask this, but that's two high ranking members of the Brotherhood who've turned out to be synths. How many more are there?"

"I have finished decrypting the data you recovered from the Institute. No further matches were found."

"With respect, Proctor. Do you really believe the Institute's entire database would fit on a single holotape? They have over two hundred years worth of data on their computers. The program I used spent about five minutes scraping the top layer of their data at most. I may not be a computer expert, but surely it left behind a lot of stuff."

Quinlan opened and closed his mouth a few times and blinked, then frowned and nodded.

"You're right, of course, and if I weren't so upset by our latest find, I would have thought of that myself."

Kells interrupted them.

"This conversation can wait until after we have dealt with the problem at hand." Nora and Quinlan nodded. "Paladin. I want you to head down to the airport and apprise Proctor Ingram of the situation. We, and a handful of trusted Knights will deal with 'the Elder'." The emphasis he put on the words conveyed his disgust.

"Yes, sir. What will be done with… it?" It galled her to stoop to their level, but she needed to play her part carefully.

"Execution. The same as Danse. However, in this case, we must make it a public execution. We must take him before he makes a run for it. Maxson was a popular leader, and unless we wish to face mutiny, we must make his crimes public. Now, go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay guys. A combination of writer's block and just plain busyness.


	45. A Step Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroines plans move forward

With four knights backing them up, Kells, Quinlan and Cade made their way up to the lookout deck to confront Maxson. As Nora stepped out onto the flight deck, she heard Maxson's angry and disbelieving spluttering. She felt a twinge of guilt and regret over condemning the young man to death, then squared her shoulders and continued on her way.

Once back on the ground, Nora found Ingram and Knight-Sergeant Gavil and pulled them into a quiet corner to explain the events of the last half hour, and Kells' instructions for Gavil to set up a public area for Maxson's "trial" and execution. Ingram looked sick to her stomach.

"How long? How long since he…?"

Nora shook her head. 

"They don't know. I got that holotape of Institute data in March, so at least…" she did a quick count on her fingers, "eight months?"

Ingram paled, and Gavil's eyes hardened.

"I'll set things up in the open area outside the barracks," he said.

Nora nodded.

"Unless something goes wrong, they're planning to have the trial first thing tomorrow morning."

"If he really is one of these abominations, why bother with a trial?" Gavil snarled.

Nora opened her mouth to respond, but Ingram cut her off before she could.

"This is Maxson we're talking about. The soldiers love him. If they try to hide it away, it'll just lead to rumors and grumbling. We'll end up with a bunch of deserters, or a mutiny."

"She's right. The rumor mill's already churning up on the Prydwen. Quinlan's team hasn't exactly been discreet about what was discovered. Everyone's scared and paranoid."

"And learning that our leader was replaced with a synth won't lead to fear and paranoia?" Gavil asked sardonically.

"Of course it will, but if the leadership is seen to be dealing with this openly, they'll be less inclined to worry that any more of them are also synths."

Gavil and Ingram looked at her in stunned silence.

"More? There are more on the list?" Ingram asked finally.

"Not on the data I was able to recover, no. But there's no way I was able to recover their entire database. And The Institute sees the Brotherhood as a threat. I'd be surprised if they'd only sent in one infiltrator." She sighed and shook her head. "I've had a long day. And tomorrow promises to be just as long, so I think I'm going to turn in."

She walked away, leaving them in an uneasy silence, as she made her way, not to her quarters, but to Madison Li's. She knocked lightly on the door and stepped inside when the scientist opened the door, pushing the door closed behind herself.

"Remember what I said about the bugout bag?" she asked in a low voice.

Madison nodded.

"Now might be a good time to make use of it." She gave her a brief overview of what was happening.

Madison raised an eyebrow sardonically.

"A bit convoluted, don't you think? Probably would have been easier to just blow the ship out of the sky."

Nora sighed and pushed her thumb against the corner of her eye socket where she was starting to feel a shooting pain.

"I know. And that's still an option. But I don't like to make 'blowing up children' my first choice."

Madison grimaced and nodded.

"I forgot about them. Thanks for the warning."

Nora nodded and left the room. Once in her own quarters, she dropped down tiredly on the bed, elbows on her knees and head in her hands.

"That ship looks like an ant nest that got poked with a stick." Deacon's voice came suddenly from the other side of the darkened room. Nora jumped and fumbled for the lamp on the bedside table.

"Jesus Christ, Deacon!" She stared wide-eyed at him lounging in her desk chair. "That's a good way to get yourself killed." She muttered a few choice curses as she rubbed a hand over her chest, where she could still feel her heartbeat thumping madly.

He grinned apologetically.

"Sorry about that. Figured it would be better if I wasn't seen coming in here, so I didn't turn on the light." He sat up straight. "I'm gonna be heading back to headquarters. Want me to take any messages?"

She nodded gratefully.

"Yes, please. Let Piper know what's happened, and that I'm going to stick around here a little longer to try to push Kells the way I want him to go."

He nodded.

"Will do. Good luck."

\+ + +

The exercise yard in front of the barracks was packed. The only soldiers not present were the skeleton crew required to keep the Prydwen aloft, and one or two squads that had been out on patrol before the shit hit the fan.

Nora stood to one side of the crowd, near the front, scanning the faces of the Brotherhood soldiers as Kells, Quinlan and Cade delivered the evidence they had found in the Institute data, with Maxson, shackled and gagged next to them, and flanked by two knights. As each point was brought up, Maxson tried to argue, but was prevented by the gag from making more than muffled grunts, his eyes gleaming with anger and a growing fear.

Most of the soldiers listened in stunned silence as the evidence was presented, though there was the occasional gasp of horror. When the moment of execution finally came, there was complete silence, except for the sound of waves on the nearby shore, and the hiss of the laser rifles. Nora forced herself to watch, taking it as partial penance for causing the death of, if not an innocent man, at least a man innocent of the crimes of which he'd been accused.

\+ + +

That afternoon, Nora joined Kells, and the other high-ranking officers in a conference room on the Prydwen.

"We must decide what to do next." Kells looked around the room. "The Institute has attacked us, has taken from us one of our best. And, as has been pointed out, they may have taken more than that, and we have no way of knowing." He clasped his hands behind his back. "We are weakened. Not only in Maxson's death, but also by the decisions his replacement made. And who else among us might not be an infiltrator, sent to weaken us further?" He looked sharply at each of them.

Nora, looking around the room, noticed the growing suspicion among the more fanatical officers, and and worry and fear growing among the more moderate ones.

"We need a new Elder," Quinlan said. "But it is not our place to choose one, nor do I believe there is anyone among us who could replace Maxson. We need input from the others in the Capital Wasteland, and from the Elders on the West Coast."

"You want us to leave the Institute to continue wreaking havoc while we go running back to daddy?" Teague broke in dismissively.

"It may be necessary to postpone our retribution," Quinlan replied primly. "As Captain Kells has said, we have been weakened by recent events."

"We still have Prime," Ingram put in.

"With respect, Proctor," Nora interrupted, "Prime might be able to get us into the Institute, but it can't go inside. And how likely is it they'll send all their troops running out to attack it? The Institute isn't known for being stupid. We'd still have to fight their armies of synths one on one."

The meeting continued for another couple of hours, the arguments flaring and fading by turns. Nora contributed where she could, always gently pushing in the direction of returning to the Capital Wasteland.

In the end, Kells dismissed them.

"Thank you for your input. As captain of the Prydwen, the final decision will be mine. I will let you know what I decide within twenty-four hours. Dismissed." As the others filed out of the conference room, he gestured to Nora. "Paladdin, a word, if you would."

Nora remained where she was until they were alone.

"Sir?"

"What are your plans, if we do return to the Capital Wasteland?"

Nora hesitated.

"I… would stay here, sir. As you know, I have a personal grudge against the Institute. They destroyed my family. I intend to take down the Institute with or without the Brotherhood's help." She took a deep breath. "And my new family is here, the Commonwealth is their home. I won't leave them behind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back from vacation!


	46. Moving On

Nora was in the mess hall finishing her breakfast early the next morning, when one of the squires came up to her. 

"Paladin, ma'am, Captain Kells wants you on the Prydwen at once, ma'am!"

Nora nodded, stuffing the last of her razorgrain toast into her mouth as she returned her tray to the busing station before making her way to the vertibird that would take her up to the Prydwen.

She found Captain Kells on the lookout post above the bridge. As she approached, she saw the other senior officers leaving what had obviously been a briefing. Kells nodded to her as she reached him and stood to attention.

"I have just informed the senior crew of my decision. We will be returning to the Capital Wasteland. The chance of further infiltration, both past and future is too great to remain here. However, I feel the Institute must still pay for its crimes, both against humanity and against the Brotherhood of Steel. You already intend to stay here and continue the fight against the Institute, but I am making this your official assignment. You may assemble a squad to remain with you if you feel it will be useful."

Nora blinked in surprise. She'd been pushing them towards this, but honestly hadn't been holding her breath.

"I… uh… I could use Haylen."

Kells nodded.

"Very well. I can also assign Knight Rhys to your team. He and Haylen have worked together extensively as part of Recon Squad Gladius."

"No, thank you, sir. I'll be needing brains, not brawn for this. I'm going up against the Institute, after all. And, permission to speak freely?" She waited until Kells nodded to her before continuing. "Rhys and I never really gelled. For a difficult assignment like this one, I'd rather have people I know I can work with, no matter how capable they may otherwise be."

Kells nodded again.

"As you wish. Return to the police station and inform Scribe Haylen of her new assignment. I will make sure Proctor Quinlan knows as well. Dismissed."

Nora saluted and left the lookout station, Kells following behind her to the stairs and making his way down to the bridge as she stepped out onto the flight deck to take the next vertibird transport to the police station.

\+ + +

"Pack your things, Scribe. You've been reassigned."

Haylen looked at Nora in surprise.

"I have?"

"Captain Kells has decided to return to the Capital Wasteland to confer with Brotherhood leadership there and out west. You and I will be remaining here to continue the fight against the Institute."

Haylen's eyes widened and she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. Nora continued.

"I was given the assignment directly by Kells, and was allowed to pick my team. You're it."

Haylen swallowed and nodded.

"Understood, ma'am. I'll be ready in ten minutes."

A few minutes later they were on the road towards Hangman's Alley.

"Was everything you said really true, or just for the benefit of whoever might have been listening?"

Nora raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Come on Haylen, I picked you for your brains. How long do you think it would take for it to get back to Kells if it hadn't been true? And what do you think his reaction would have been?"

Haylen shook her head.

"Right, yes, of course. I'm still not thinking straight. My mind keeps wandering back to the execution."

Nora nodded.

"Yeah. Mine too. I hope it turns out to be a good decision." Haylen looked at her for a few moments. "What?"

"Honestly? I feel a bit better knowing you have some doubts."

Nora rubbed her face.

"I took a man's life. Of course I have doubts. It's like the old, if you could time travel would you go back and kill Hitler or Pol Pot before they could get started, thing." Haylen looked at her blankly. "To oversimplify it, they were historical leaders who killed lots of people." She sighed. "Of course, I don't have the luxury of hindsight a time traveler would have, so I just have to make my choices based on the limited information I do have, and hope it doesn't backfire."

Haylen nodded and they continued the trek in silence. Piper met them as they entered the foyer of their apartment building. She smiled at Haylen and wrapped her arms around Nora.

"Deacon just left. He told us what happened."

"There's more that he didn't know. The Brotherhood's heading back to the Capital Wasteland, and Haylen and I have been officially assigned to taking down the Institute."

Piper looked at her in surprise.

"They are?"

Nora huffed a little laugh.

"I know, I can hardly believe it worked either." Her smile faded. "How's Glory?"

Piper grimaced.

"Alive, but she took a lot of damage. Curie talked Carrington into putting her into something she called a medically induced coma?"

Nora nodded.

"She's essentially sleeping very deeply while her body heals."

"Yeah, Curie explained it to us on the way home. She and Cait went back to Railroad HQ with Deacon this morning to check on her."

Nodding in relief, Nora turned back to Haylen. 

"Let's find you a place to crash for now. You can decide later if you want to stay here, or go somewhere else." She glanced dubiously at Haylen's uniform. "Is that all you have to wear, or do you have some civvies to change into?"

Haylen looked down at herself.

"Uh, no. Just uniforms."

"OK, we'll find you something to wear too. Best if you don't draw too much attention."


	47. Goodbye

Piper lay on her side and watched Nora pull back the covers to sit next to her on the bed.

"So what's next? Now that the Brotherhood's out of the way?"

Nora rested her arms on her upraised knees and rubbed her face tiredly. 

"I think it's time to head back to Sanctuary and see what Sturges and Preston have come up with." She glanced down at Piper. "But I'd like to head back to the Railroad first, check in on Glory."

Piper sat up and brushed a thumb across Nora's cheek.

"Did you get any sleep while you were gone?"

Nora closed her eyes, leaning into the touch.

"Not a whole lot. Even when I managed to lay down, I couldn't get my brain to settle."

Piper tugged on her arm and lay back down.

"Turn off the light and come here." 

Nora switched off the lamp next to the bed, and allowed Piper to pull her down next to her, pillowing Nora's head on her shoulder. Nora breathed deeply, and allowed herself to relax for the first time since Haylen had come to warn them of the imminent Brotherhood attack on Railroad headquarters. With her arm around Piper's waist, and Piper's fingers tracing gently along her back, the images of Maxson's death finally faded into the back of her mind, and she slipped gratefully into unconsciousness.

\+ + +

"How is she?" Nora looked up from Glory's sleeping form, and glanced between Curie and Carrington. Both looked exhausted, but hopeful.

"She will have a long road ahead of her," Carrington said in his clipped accent. "But we expect her to make a full recovery."

"How much longer are you going to keep her asleep?"

Carrington now glanced at Curie.

"Another two or three days. While she is in a coma, we are able to administer more stimpaks than would be advisable if she were conscious, shortening her overall healing time. It was a known technique before the war, but knowledge of it does not seem to have survived."

Nora nodded and patted the unconscious synth's arm gently. She glanced back to the center of the room where Desdemona was waiting impatiently.

"Time to debrief, I guess."

Leaving Glory in Curie's care, Nora, Piper and Dr Carrington made their way towards Dez and Deacon.

"Eighty-six. Good to see you. Deacon has already reported on the execution of the Brotherhood's leader. But we've also now started receiving reports from runners in the field that their ship has been seen heading out of the Commonwealth. Is this real? Or a ruse?"

"It's real. Finding out that one of their highest ranking officers was a runaway synth planted the seeds for my plan. After that, it was easy to convince them that Maxson was a synth infiltrator, and with the rumors Deacon and I planted, and their decision to execute him, they were left reeling. It took very little pushing from me to convince them they needed to head back to the Capital Wasteland to confer with their leaders. We also planted doubts as to how many other synths there might be among their ranks, so they're also rife with paranoia and suspicion. I suspect it will take quite some time for them to get themselves organized again and return."

Piper snorted.

"Knowing them, it wouldn't surprise me if their leadership decided to get rid of the entire group that came here, just to be on the safe side."

Nora grimaced and nodded.

"I could see them doing that, yeah." She shook her head and turned back to Desdemona. "I plan to check in on Z1 in the next couple of days, but I'm also going to be heading north for a couple of weeks to check in with the Minutemen and update them on the Brotherhood situation."

Desdemona nodded.

"Very well, Eighty-six. Good work out there."

\+ + +

"General, I'm glad you're back. There's someone waiting for you." The settler on guard looked unsettled, almost nervous, as she indicated the foyer of Nora and Piper's apartment building, where they could see a Minuteman standing watch over X6-88. Nora frowned and glanced at Piper before heading into the building.

"X6? What's going on?"

"Ma'am. You are needed at the Institute. Father is…" Though X6's voice and face retained their usual stoicism, Nora found his hesitation as significant as another man's tears. "Dr Volkert has suggested you return to the Institute, if you would like to say your farewells."

Piper slipped her hand into Nora's and squeezed it gently as Nora nodded.

"All right. Thank you, X6. I'll meet you there."

The synth raised an eyebrow.

"Ma'am?"

"I need to get Shaun." Nora glanced at Piper. "He should have the opportunity to say goodbye too, if he wants to."

"Very well, ma'am. I will let the doctor know you will be arriving shortly."

\+ + +

Shaun held Nora's hand tightly as they landed in the relay room. She glanced down at him.

"OK?"

He swallowed audibly and nodded. She gave his hand a little squeeze and tugged him forward.

"Let's go, then."

As they exited the private elevator into Shaun's quarters, Nora took a deep breath. They paused in the doorway. Shaun lay in his special medical bed, looking gaunt and tired.

"Hello, Shaun."

"Ah, there you are. I've heard the news of the Brotherhood's departure, and the death of their leader." He looked up at Nora. "This was your work, yes?"

Nora nodded as they approached the bed.

"They were dangerous. It had to be done."

"It isn't the route I would have suggested, but I'm glad it worked. I'm glad you're safe." He looked down at Shaun. "And you've brought the… boy. Hello, Shaun."

Young Shaun pressed himself to Nora's side.

"Hello, Father. Mom said you're sick. That you're gonna die."

"It's true. So, I have a very important task for you." He waited until the boy nodded before continuing. "You must look after your mother. Can you do that, Shaun?"

The boy nodded solemnly. 

"Very good. Would you mind sitting on the couch over there for a few minutes? I would like to talk privately with your mother."

Young Shaun looked up questioningly at Nora, who nodded and gave him a small smile.

"Go ahead." She watched him walk away for a few moments before turning back to Shaun. "What did you want to talk about?"

"It is no secret that you worked with the Rainroad in order to first reach the Institute. The question is: where do you stand with them now? Do you count them amongst your allies?"

Nora hesitated.

"Yes, Shaun. I can't lie. They are allies."

"Well, I appreciate your honesty." The frown on his face indicated that though he might appreciate her honesty, he did not appreciate her choice of friends. "I won't ask for details. I'm sure I don't want to know. But these people, with their twisted ideology, they seek to undermine everything the Institute stands for. Surely you can see that."

"They are determined. And single-minded. They believe the synths are slaves, and they won't stop. I'm sure they'd burn this whole place to the ground if it would free the synths."

"I know. I've been dealing with them far longer than you have. Surely by now you can see that you can no longer work with them? That the time has come to put an end to them. For our sake. For our future. You have eliminated one threat against us already. Isn't it time to eliminate another? I am in no position anymore to make this an order. Consider it a dying old man's final request."

Nora didn't answer, and Shaun waved a hand feebly.

"Think it over. I'm sure you'll see that I'm right." He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Just as Nora was thinking of slipping away to let him rest, he opened them again. "Things are just beginning for you. The Institute is in your hands now. Lead them well. Allie has always been loyal to the Institute, and to me. You can rely on her for help. Once I'm gone, it's all up to you."

Nora shifted uncomfortably and nodded.

"I'll do my best."

"I know you will. Don't worry about me. You need to look ahead. Focus on the future." There was another short silence before he continued. "Our time together has been… strange, hasn't it? I spent years wondering what you were like; thinking about all we missed out on." He reached a hand out towards her. "I want you to know that I'm grateful for the time we've had."

Nora took his hand hesitantly.

"I'm glad I found you." Though she disagreed with his most of his viewpoints, and in some respects, considered him an enemy, she realized that this was the truth. 

"As am I. Thank you… mother. You've helped a boy achieve his dreams." He released her hand and settled back on his pillow. "I think… I think I'd like to sleep now."

"Goodbye, Shaun."


	48. Meetings

Taking Shaun by the hand, she led him out to the stairwell and started down the long, circular hallway to the next segment.

"Do you want to get something to eat?"

Shaun shook his head, without looking at her. She pulled him to one side of the corridor and dropped to one knee in front of him.

"Something bothering you, kiddo?"

"Are we going to be staying here now?" he asked, still not meeting her gaze.

"Just for a couple of days. Until… until it's over. Is that OK?"

Shaun finally looked up at her, his eyes wide.

"Are you going to leave me here after?"

Nora stared at Shaun in shock for a few moments before she could answer.

"No! No, of course not! Why would you…" she hesitated, glanced around, then stood and held a hand out to Shaun. "Let's finish this conversation in our quarters."

Once in the privacy of her quarters, Nora sat Shaun on the couch and perched on the coffee table in front of him.

"What's going on, sweetheart? Why would you think I was going to leave you behind?"

"You said that Father asked you to look after me, but once he's gone, you don't have to do what he says anymore." He paused, then finished in a shaky voice. "I know I'm not really your son."

"Oh, Shaun…" Nora moved to sit next to him on the couch, and wrapped her arms around him. After a moment, she pushed him back so she could look him in the eyes. "Father did ask me to look after you, but that's not why I brought you home with me. I did that for your own sake. And mine. And just because I didn't give birth to you doesn't make you any less my son, do you hear me?" His eyes dropped again. "Shaun, look at me for a minute." She waited until he looked up again. "Is Donny my son?"

He blinked, confused at the change of subject, then nodded.

"Neither Piper nor I gave birth to Donny, either. He is our son because we chose him. Just like we chose you, OK?" She pulled him close again as a tear slipped down his cheek.

\+ + +

Nora looked hesitantly into the conference room above Shaun's quarters. Allie met her gaze and smiled, indicating the chair at the head of the table.

"May I be the first to welcome you, ma'am. We're looking forward to working with you."

Nora blinked at the formality, and smiled in return, making her way to her seat.

"Thank you, Doctor Filmore. I hope to do the position justice," she answered, mostly for the benefit of the rest of the Directorate. Allie's smile widened.

"I'm sure you will."

Before she could continue, she was interrupted by the arrival of Alana Secord.

"I'm sorry I'm late." She slipped into her seat and Allie continued.

"We have two main items on our agenda today," Allie continued once Nora and Alana had taken their seats. "First of all, we have an update on Phase Three. Recent events have upset our timetable; getting the reactor online has become our number one priority. It needs to be running… well, yesterday. Doctor Watson?"

Evan Watson frowned. 

"We are running out of time. We're going to have to cut some corners. I've been working with one of Doctor Secord's teams. We've found data on a piece of pre-war tech that should allow us to get the reactor online."

He glanced at Alana Secord, who picked up the narrative.

"Mass Fusion was working on a Beryllium Agitator before the war. That's where you'll be heading." She spoke directly to Nora, who frowned.

"What's a Beryllium Agitator?"

"No offense, but the details would probably be lost on you," Allie smiled gently to take the sting out of her words. "The point is, it'll allow us to boost the reactor's power and get it running sooner than planned."

Nora nodded.

"All right. I'll need a day or so to case the place. The last time I was near that area, it was full of gunners."

"We'll be able to provide a few teams of 1st and 2nd Gen synths as backup," Alana said.

"Good. I'd still like to check the place out ahead of time before just barging in."

"Very well," Allie said reluctantly. "Keep in mind that there is a certain urgency to this." She waited until Nora nodded before continuing. "Now on to the second item on our agenda."

"To bring you up to speed," Clayton stepped in, "obviously there are groups in the Commonwealth that stand in opposition to the Institute's goals. The Directorate has agreed that steps must be taken to ensure our safety in the long run…"

Evan Watson interrupted him.

"Let's just spit it out, shall we? The Directorate has decided that the Brotherhood of Steel need to be eliminated."

"Uh…" Nora hesitated, looking around the room. "I take it you haven't heard, then? Shaun had, though, so some of you must know?" She glanced towards Alana Secord who nodded.

"That's why I was late. I was reviewing the latest reports."

Allie looked between Nora and Alana in confusion.

"What's happened?"

Alana folded her hands on the table in front of her.

"It would seem that the Brotherhood of Steel have left the Commonwealth." There were murmurs of surprise from the other members of the Directorate. "And the latest news indicates that our new Director had a hand in their decision."

Allie looked at Nora in surprise.

"You did?"

Nora shrugged self-deprecatingly.

"The Institute aren't the only ones who felt threatened by the Brotherhood. The Minutemen and the regular folks of the Commonwealth weren't very happy with them either. So, I took steps to destabilize them, and while they were in a state of uncertainty, I pushed them towards returning to the Capital Wasteland."

The Directorate members stared at Nora.

"As simple as that? You just suggested that they leave, and they did?" Clayton asked disbelievingly.

Nora snorted.

"There was nothing simple about it. I spent months infiltrating them, and rising in their ranks, to a position where they would trust me." She hesitated for a moment, then decided a bit of judicious truth-telling was in order. "As far as they're concerned, I remained behind to continue their mission: to destroy the Institute."

\+ + +

"They want a thing called a Beryllium Agitator."

Haylen gasped from the other end of the table where Nora was sitting with Piper, Cait and Curie, telling them about the events of the last few days. Nora glanced at the younger woman.

"You've heard of it?"

Haylen nodded.

"Proctors Quinlan and Ingram were studying the data they'd found on the agitator in the hopes that they'd be able to use it to replace Prime's main power drive."

Nora pinched her lip thoughtfully. 

"Other than that, how much do you know about it?"

"I didn't study the data myself, but I took several holotape's worth of backup data with me when I left the police station. I'm pretty sure everything they'd discovered is included on there."

Nora smiled widely.

"I think it's time to make another visit to Sanctuary Hills. Will you come with us?" Nora's grin widened. "And bring your holotapes?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you noticed that the necessity of Allie's presence in the Mass Fusion quest is contradicted towards the end of the quest when she stays behind to fight off the BoS and sends you back to the Institute alone with the BA?


End file.
